


Lost Memories

by Kawaii_Panda



Category: Soul Eater
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-22
Updated: 2015-09-22
Packaged: 2018-04-10 17:47:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 42
Words: 65,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4401458
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kawaii_Panda/pseuds/Kawaii_Panda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Spirit becomes desperate when he can't stop Soul and Maka's love from blooming. With the help of a stranger, an answer comes about, but how far is he willing to go to stop their relationship, and what consequences come with it? He might just find out that their relationship with each other is more important than he thinks.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Drunken Desparation

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Spirit hated it. He couldn’t stand it any longer. Finally he’d gotten fed up with watching his baby girl get taken away. In the beginning, it was acceptable, seeing as how his precious daughter and Soul were just partners in crime fighting. He’d let too much time slip by, however, grown too comfortable, and now what was once an innocent friendship turned into something even he had never obtained from her. Real admiration, love…

He could see it when Soul looked into her eyes, sparkling with true admiration. It could also be seen in the real, genuine smile she gave in return to said gaze, a smile that she’d never once given him in their entire memories together. No weapon-meister bond and resonance had ever become as strong or as faithful as theirs. Lonely jealous eyes always watching them grow up together, and in the same apartment mind you, too. Everything Spirit had tried in stopping them from falling for each other failed miserably and the spark between them grew faster than he could blink an eye. 

The red headed man slammed his fist down onto the bar counter, his glass of alcohol vibrating upon the strength of the impact. Other customers jumped slightly at this sudden outburst of rage. “Damn it!! My… my baby girl!!” he screamed. “Gooooonnnneeee!” The agony of it blocked any more words from coming out as he simply dropped his head onto the bar, long red strands of hair flying down. A hit that hard could give anyone a concussion! 

Throwing his hand forward without lifting himself up, spirit opened his palm, silently demanding another drink. Tonight was an ideal night to get plastered, just so he could forget the agony of his little girl growing up. The glass that followed, though, did not feel like the same kind glass he’d been drinking from. Glancing upwards, barely lifting off the counter, told him it wasn’t either. Instead, it was a cold iced water. 

“I’d say you’ve had enough if you ask me…” a strange feminine voice followed. “Maybe you outta flush yourself out a little first if you don’t want to get into a wreck tonight?” The source of the suggestion chuckled a little. 

“Eh, wha?” Spirit mumbled, slightly disappointed in the interruption. Finally pulling his body back up, and slouching into the bar stool with a heavy sigh, the exhauspirated father turned his head to the one who’d blocked him from his precious alcohol. “And who are you… telling me what I should and shouldn’t do?” 

The young woman’s hair was a brilliant pink, the kind that could almost glow in the dark. She wore a black dress that hung tight to flatter her hips and rose high enough to reveal more than enough leg. Adorning her feet were luscious black high heeled boots with black lacing intertwined upon the front. 

Luscious long lashes batted, catching Spirits attention, as fond as he was of the ladies. “Well for one thing, I could be your designated driver, but THAT would be embarrassing, wouldn’t it?”   
“Tch… I can handle myself!” Spirit called the bartender for another drink. 

“I overheard you were having problems with a daughter in pursuit of love, or perhaps the other way around?” 

“Yeah… it’s that idiot weapon of hers. He swore he’d never touch her! And she’s falling for him. Oh my MAAAAAKKKKAAAAA! MAKA BABY, DADDY IS HERE FOR-“ His words were immediately hushed by the woman’s hand. 

“Ahem…” 

Spirit nodded, acknowledging her indication of the uneccessary outburst as they both saw the entire bar’s worth of customers staring their way. He merely scowled in return, turning around to face his back to them once more. “Oh, what did I do for her to love HIM more than ME?!” 

“You know… it doesn’t have to be like that”

“What do you mean? There’s nothing I can do anymore! I’ve tried everything… EVERYTHING! Convincing them him wasn’t love, scaring her out of getting with boys, threatening him, keeping them separated, making him look bad… ” At the last suggestion, Spirit blushed slightly in the small shame he had left.

“Well, if you don’t mind me interjecting, there’s something I could suggest.”  
Spirit gave the witch a deadpan look and scoffed lightly. “Really? I’ve tried it all.” A hint of sarcasm in his voice told her he didn’t believe her. After an insistent look in return, though, he waved his hand, telling her to go ahead with it.

“What if you could make him forget overall that he was in love.” She smiled, offering a sense of reassurance. She was, after all a witch. And witches weren’t banned since they no longer used their magic for harm after the pact they made with Kid. 

Sighing, Spirit somewhat rejected the idea of using any kind of spell, no matter how much witches had proven their trust. But he was drunk. And desperate. “Well, what do I have to do? And only if it doesn’t hurt him!!”

Laughing, she turned her stool so she was face to face with him. “No, it won’t. And its easy. Just meet me here tomorrow, same time.” She quickly grabbed a nearby napkin, writing down what appeared to be a list of credentials necessary. A questionable look told her that he’d become suspicious. “Don’t worry! It’s just to make sure I don’t accidentally make the wrong people forget each other! We wouldn’t want to accidentally start something tragic…”

“Oh! Right…”


	2. Interjection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soul and Maka are enjoying personal time together when Spirit barges into their privacy with no explained reason.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Soul and Maka walked along the graveled park trail. Days like this were the best. There were no kishins or witches to hunt. Trees shaded their pathway, which winded around left and right seeming forever. Wind blew casually, ruffling their hair into their eyes now and then. It was only them and the air around them. 

“There!” exclaimed Maka, pointing rigidly towards a simple empty bench. Earlier she’d suggested finding a nice resting place. The walk was nice, but so was resting, after all the fighting they had been doing lately. Ever since Soul had been titled the last Death Scythe, many duties fell upon them, as Kid wanted to make sure his best remained in practice. 

“Sure, whatever.” Soul answered casually. As soon as they arrived at the empty wooden bench and sat, she immediately pulled out a thick book from the sack by her side. As she began to read, Soul pulled out a portable game system. Digging around his pockets, he fretted slightly, stopping himself before Maka noticed. “Damn!” he uttered lightly, but then stopped when he saw Maka looking his way with one eyebrow rose. 

“Bored already?” She asked skeptically. “We’re not leaving, Soul. I came out here to read, and that’s what I’m going to do.”

“Yes, Maka, you bore me to death.” Dead pan eyes stared back at her. She glared back, rearing her book back, spine forward and ready to strike him. He quickly brought his arm up in defense, leaning back from the paper-made weapon. “M-Maka!! I’m just kidding! I left my headphones! See!?” The weapon pulled his pockets out, showing off that they were empty. 

“Good…” his meister remarked, sneering lightly, but not meanly, and turning back to read her book again. They weren’t about to turn back around to get anything. 

Smiling sheepishly, Soul had to admit, this was the kind of thing that made Maka unique from others. She did what she wanted, when she wanted, and nobody could stop her. She had motivation to go after what she wanted and wasn’t afraid. Sometimes the stubbornness worried him, recalling their first encounter with Chrona at the church, but he was willing to stick with her no matter what she decided to do. 

With this, he sighed in satisfaction of her presence alone and turned on his game system. Who cared what he was playing anyway? Nobody was around to distract them, and she’d be too buried in the story to care. 

With the time they had to spare, each continued their own pursuit of entertainment, Maka’s eyes skimming words, while Soul’s skimmed his game. They hadn’t particularly said anything to each other, but neither did they really need to. Just this peaceful was enough to make them both happy. Occasionally, they would glance at the other, eyes tempting to look elsewhere other than their face, lips curling in a smile just knowing they were there, and hands tempted to grab ahold of the other’s, but never quite making it there out of fear that the other would disapprove. Both were fairly observative of the feelings they had for their partner, but worried over what would happen if they actually became bold enough to take action. 

Finally, Soul had become brave enough to make a first move, though. What would it hurt, after all? They held hands all the time when they were getting ready to fight, so this shouldn’t feel any different, right? But it did. His fingers crawled to intertwine with hers. Finally, he was going to do it, and not just for battle purposes! 

However, just as his hand began graze hers, both partners yelped, nearly dropping their belongings with one hand as their other instantly felt the back of their head. They turned quickly to see what had ironically snagged them both at the same time. However, their faced immediately turned to that of annoyance. There stood Spirit holding a strand of hair from each their now-tender scalps, snickering. 

“Serious, papa! What was that for?!” 

“AH HA!! Caught you red-handed!” The man behind them exclaimed in return, pointing his finger accusingly towards Soul, who couldn’t help but to lean back for preservation of his personal space. Or to avoid having a finger jabbed into his eye. 

Maka couldn’t help but bury her face in shame, face flushing red. “Papaaaaaaaa! I thought you promised you would stop stalking us! We’re old enough to take care of ourselves!” She’d have Maka-chopped her own father if she wasn’t too busy dusting the dirt off her book. Instead, she glared at him menacingly, silently threatening him to go away. 

When he didn’t go away, however, she abruptly stood, hand now firmly grasped around Soul’s wrist. “Come on Soul! We’re going somewhere else…. And you better not follow us, Papa!! Or I swear you’ll get it twice as hard!” The meister held up her book and glared from behind it as she waved it in threat. Those chops were not to be underestimated! 

Soul’s stumbling figure dragged behind her, failing at an attempt to keep up with her stubborn pace. “Wait! I’m coming!” he pleaded as Maka’s rough pace refused to slow down. This time, she was truly fed up, and refused to give up until he was out of sight entirely. The white haired boy clumsily shoved his game system back into his pocket before it could drop recklessly into the gravel. 

In most cases, Spirit might have pouted, or begged for her attention and forgiveness, or possibly even hid in the embarrassment of conducting such idiotic acts for petty reasons, but today was different. There he stood, simply watching the two walk away, head cocked to the side. He held an odd bit of satisfaction in his gaze as they fled their once-comfortable bench.


	3. Treasure From Nowhere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spirit has obtained a new item he's got to keep to himself and himself only, but what exactly about it does he cherish so much? It just may turn out to be the key to many of the problems that will come up!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

There it was. Who knew that such an adorned beautiful object could be the one thing that could stop his daughter from becoming tainted by love from that boy? No, nobody actually had to wear it for it to work. The only reason it hung on such an elegant bronze chain was for the events that he might want to keep it on hand for any safety reasons. Its perfect oval ruby jewel gleamed in the sunlight, so clean the reflections could blind him if turned the right way. In fact, it almost did as he bathed in his glory of being able to obtain it, until he saw them standing right in front of him, gazing at him as though he were a mad man.

“Don’t tell me you’re planning on proposing to the next dancer at Chupacapras…” noted Maka as she glared at him sarcastically. Soul couldn’t help but chuckle lightly in enlightenment to her snide comment. Even after all these years, their father-daughter relationship remained bad, his past actions leaving a spiteful image of him that never seemed to go away in time as most things did.

“For your information, I got it to….” The red head stopped to think for a moment, leaving an awkward silence. His face flustered a light shade of red before he managed to throw a reason at them. “I got it because it’s a precious family item!” 

Maka snorted. “Don’t people usually pass those kinds of things to their kids earlier than this? You’re what… fifty now?” Sure, things like that were possible, but it was obvious her father’s words weren’t true, and she was determined to weed out the truth. That, and it was a good excuse to offend him, amused at the exaggerated age. That would definitely fluster him to her satisfaction.

Soul decided to join in on the fun since it already appeared Spirit wasn’t going to win this one, at least not graciously. The weapon reached forward, attempting to take the jeweled necklace out of his hand. However, Spirit jerked it back immediately before Soul could even touch it. He seemed in a bout of distress when he did so, leaving enough space between them so there was no room to touch it again. 

Spirit thought back to when he’d first received the precious jewelry. It stood for the barrier that would prevent the love between his daughter and her weapon from happening at all and leave it in a forgotten spot. He remembered exactly what the witch said. ‘Should Soul touch this, he’ll remember everything he forgot, and know exactly who did it and why.’ It was as though their souls and the desires of their hearts were entwined into that ruby piece. Her words heeded a warning that made him wonder if he should just hide it away entirely after such a close incident.

“Where is your manners, trying to take things that aren’t yours!?” Spirit spat out at Soul, still holding the jewelry away from touching distance. He promptly stuffed the necklace into a pocket inside his black suit jacket, a place he knew Soul wouldn’t dare touch. It was odd enough he was even wearing a full jacket in the first place in such pretty warm weather. To be so frantic over something so small added to the oddity of his appearance. People walked by, briefly glancing at him with confused looks as they passed the man. No one dared to stop and examine just what had him in such a spiff. 

“Cool down, old man. It’s just a necklace… not like I really wanted it anyway…” replied Soul as he rolled his eyes away. Such a display was quite embarrassing. It ruined the once-secretly-romantic walk he and Maka had started. Now the moment was downsized to minimizing the already-high amount of shame in which he hoped to one day call his father-in-law. 

Spirit gasped in shock, as though he’d heard a juicy rumor. “Just a…. !” No words could finish as he could no longer put out a logical reason as to why he valued something so meaningless. It was too obvious the man had no useful reasons as he continued to spit words with no meaning, cutting off every incomplete sentence. Nothing he said could be put together at all.

Maka’s grin rose in satisfaction to his response. Almost speechless! She expected something as dramatic as this, and knew exactly what to say back to set her defeat in stone. Before she could answer, though, she felt her partner’s hand wrap around hers. It told her she already won the one-sided battle. It also told her they may as well leave him there, and leave him alone. Anything more would simply be needless mockery.

It infuriated Spirit even more, seeing her accept his touch – even as innocent as it was- so willingly when she didn’t even have one hug for her own father. He simply stood there, closed fists and straight arms stiffly by down by his sides, and his breath held still as his face turned to the color of beets. 

“Come on, Maka. You’re dad’s seriously freaking me out now. So uncool…” The weapon pulled his meister, still in his grip, away before she could comment any further. Enough shame had been done in five minutes already. 

Ducking around a building corner, they peeked, one head over another past the wall’s edge. Red and jade sets of eyes glanced from one side of the street to another. Thankfully, there was no sign of the red headed weapon following. Really, they much preferred to watch Kidd freak out over a crooked picture frame than the Death Scythe squabble over such a small meaningless object.

“What do you think that was all about, Maka?” Soul couldn’t help but to ask as they walked back out of the ally and back into public eyes. Never had anything unrelated to Maka send him into a fit like that. 

“Don’t worry about it, Soul. I’m sure it’s just some stupid gift for another one of those bimbos.” Soul couldn’t help but to grin at Maka’s likely-correct assumption. Her father’s desperation was too much. Nearly at age fourty, and he still couldn’t maintain himself to a tolerable level to keep a decent woman around. 

Maka was right. But still, there was something about that simple, yet elegant piece of jewelry that Soul couldn’t help but to feel intrigued by. Why had he felt so curious about it? It was merely a ruby jewel hung on a bronze chain, something any jeweler could make. Ultimately, such an infatuation with an object wasn’t cool for him, either, so the white haired man shrugged it off to never think about it again.


	4. It Starts With One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its ideas!

“Ha! HA HA HA HA! There’s NO WAY you guys are gonna beat me this time!” Black star shouted. He held five cards, fanned out, high into the air. “You may as well just give up while you can!”

“Whatever, Black Star! More like, you should work on your poker face.” Soul blatantly replied, expression as straight and calm as it always was. 

As smirks went around the circle, each one laid their cards down around a round table, each displayed hand getting better and better. Patty had nothing more than a pair of fives. Liz, a pair of nines. Next with Kid was three of a kind in twos. This final pairing threw him into a fit as expected. Finally it came around to Black Star, whom held a full house. Finally in last to lay her cards down was Maka. In front of her was a full, beautiful royal flush. 

As everyone saw it, their mouths dropped in shock. “Now who’s got the best poker face around here?” Maka smiled in satisfaction of her win. 

Sunday was the one day every week that they gathered to have fun. It was the one day they tried not to think about witches, kishins, and feigning foes. Of course, time to time, the moment was broken due to unexpected threats, but otherwise, using this day typically allowed them a fair amount of time to de-stress. Today, it was good game of poker.

Once the crowd finished sulking, they’de separated into their own conversations, a majority of them hanging over a bar with snacks while laughing at stupid jokes. Soul, however, found himself a cozy couch, ready to get some space like the anti-social guy he usually was. Crowds just weren’t his thing. 

Liz plopped beside Soul in following. He seemed to pay no attention to her presence, as he hadn’t moved or spoken. She tracked down just what, or who, he was gazing at distantly. But something was different about it this time. He appeared more confused instead of his usual relaxed way. 

Smirking, she thought back to Maka and Soul’s brief moment in the park yesterday, how their lips almost found each other, but turned away so quickly at the smallest sound. They had no idea it was her who’d stumbled slightly on some shrubbery in the anticipation to see their relationship bloom finally. It’d been long enough, though, and today, after seeing his distant gaze, she was determined to get them together at last!

“I think you should go for it…”

This brought Soul out of thought and back into reality. He turned, surprised to see Liz by his side. She could see his questioning look, though. Had he not heard her, or was he simply trying to avoid the topic?

“I said you should go for it” She repeated, not letting her gaze go beyond him and Maka. “Don’t think I never notice the way you two are. You’re perfect for each other!”

It confused Soul even more. Was she really telling him to hook up with his own meister? Sure, they were very compatible, more compatible than just about every weapon-meister team known, but pushing these boundaries were quite risky to the connection they had now.

“What are you talking about, Liz?? Yeah, we’re good as a team, but…”

“Uh huh… ‘team’, my butt! Then explain why you almost kissed her…” Soul shot another questioning look. “Oh, I saw you two, in the park, sitting on that bench all alone… Didn’t think anyone was there, did ya?!” 

Soul still couldn’t recall what she was talking about, his eyes narrowing into a confused look as though she were crazy. There wasn’t even a single shade of blush on his cheeks. Either, he really had no idea what she was talking about, or he was doing a really good job at covering up and keeping his cool. 

“Ahem! Just yesterday?” Liz continued, hushing her voice a little. “Don’t tell me you forgot. I’m not letting you escape this one with a lame excuse like that!”

“Kiss? The park? Liz, I was at home, asleep.” He continued confidently. “ I’m pretty sure I’d remember if I suddenly woke up on some park bench, lip-locking with a nerd…”

“Seriously, you’re impossible… Just don’t wait too long, or someone else might scoop her away first” she warned. With this, Liz stood up and waved her hand up in impatience. “Anyway, I’m going! See ya later!” Convincing the albino weapon obviously wasn’t going to happen now, so she’d decided to wave it off for later. Who really forgets such a close intimate encounter in one day, she wondered.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Spirit sunk into the cool sheets if his bed. It wasn’t exactly made to perfection, but it was straight enough to cover his body as he lye there. Pulling the sheets up to his chin, he turned onto his side, facing a simple, wooden bed-side table just large enough to hold a lamp, an alarm clock, and one picture frame. Below the surface of the table were two large drawers. 

He sighed as he glanced at the one photo that stayed propped up there for as long as he’d had it. It was what soothed him and kept him going every night before he woke the next morning. In the photo was his daughter, jade eyes and sandy-blonde hair. The smile she held was the one thing he always aimed to see, even if he did sometimes get a little… distracted. Maybe a little dramatic too. 

She was whom he practically lived for, yet somehow she never recognized it in even one day of her life, save for when he’d shown up after her weapon partner was injured that day in Paris. Maka was so much like her mother, as also seen in her stubbornness. It made him wonder if she’d gotten anything from him at all. 

Putting the frame back in its small space on the table top, he’d nearly dropped it, catching it halfway before it met the floor. Exclaiming in fear that he’d broken it, he wiped his hand across the glass. However, something stopped him from rising back up so soon. Something else had dropped to the floor. 

Spirit sat up and pulled his legs to hang aside. Bending down to pick up the object, he gasped, wondering why he’d dropped it at all. The ruby-jeweled necklace! In a panic, he observed this as well, narrowing his eyes to search for any cracks or chips. None was noticed, so he pulled the top drawer open, getting ready to store it back away. 

Something did stop him, though. There was something different. It didn’t appear so much as a physical damage as it did a change. Where it was once completely crimson in color, it now had a small speck of blue. Holding it closer to his face, hand held high above his head so it dangled from its chain just high enough to meet his eyes, he couldn’t help but to smile in glee. 

“It’s finally working!” he sang to himself , laying back down under the sheets to await that morning. He would no longer have to witness ‘The Last Deathscythe’ Soul Eater Evans look at his daughter in pursuit anymore. With this thought in mind, Spirit fell asleep happily. Maka could be his, and only his, once again.


	5. Her Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Maka's birthday. Will she spend it alone, or will Soul come to the rescue?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Chapter 5: Her Day 

Her birthday was one of the very few days Death kept her on call. Who would possibly desire to spend their birthday chancing their life to kishins of unpredictable power? If it became absolutely necessary, sure, she could easily answer the call, and given their status, rarely have their lives at risk. But no, she’d rather spend the day reading, still. 

On this particular year, though, it seemed her birthday celebration wouldn’t be near as large as it usually was. While she and Soul was given their usual free time, a fair number of their friends had been sent on a long-distance mission. According to Kidd, this situation was one that could not be helped, and he preferred the company of those he trusted most. They would not be free to visit or party. 

This was okay with Maka, though. Since her and her weapon partner’s friendship had grown a little closer than usual, part of the girl’s heart desired quieter, more personal time with him instead. It would be nice for a change.

However, upon returning on her trip back home from the store, she thought it odd that Soul wasn’t already opening the door already. His senses were always keen enough to know when she arrived home, and his generosity was always large enough to never leave her carrying it all by herself. Raising her brow, she set the large, brown bags down on the ground before their front door. Digging out her key chain, she located their house key and opened the door to their apartment. 

As the door swung open, she didn’t see a single body home, so she heaved the bags inside, setting them down one more time to close the door once more and lock it behind her. Again, cold food didn’t stay cold forever, so instead of going on a droning search through their tidy place, she resolved so simply go about putting everything where they went. 

Again, looking around, though, she couldn’t help but to wonder where Soul disappeared to on the day he usually always spent every minute making sure everything was perfect for her. Not that she necessarily needed the pampering. However, his lack of presence just felt too odd and discomforting in a way. Was he planning something different? Only time would tell…

With this final thought of his whereabouts, Maka simply decided to drown herself in book. This would definitely do the trick in taking her away from the worry and into another world of intrigue. Making her way to her room and lying down on her bed, she opened a novel. Gone she was from this world and now into another. It would be a quiet birthday, but it would be okay as long as Soul was there by her side; and she knew he would be as he never skipped a single year. 

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Soul panicked as he glanced at the overhead clock. “Oh shit! I haven’t even called Maka!” He shouted, quickly grabbing the ticket the waitress had laid before him and the to-go sack of food for his meister. As he hobbled between bar chairs to the checkout stand, he frantically grabbed his wallet from his pocket, nearly throwing his card at the clerk. 

“Ahh, sorry!” he said in apology. The clerk simply nodded in acknowledgement. It was late, and they could tell he was late by his haste. The name on his tag read ‘Tommy’. He was professionally enough dressed, with a black apron over his green polo shirt. 

“Here you go…” Tommy replied, with a courteous smile on his face, despite the rush Soul had put him in. The boy handed a ticket in front of him, and Soul signed it. 

Finally fleeing the busy bar side and out the restaurant door, he made way to his motorcycle and promptly made his way back home. Who knew how mad his partner would be once he arrived? He hadn’t even left a note indicating he was going anywhere, assuming she’d know he was safe. 

-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

He arrived at their apartment finally. Quickly getting inside, he stepped to their kitchen, setting the bag of warm food atop a table. It was odd how quiet it was, so he took a tour through, gently letting her name out in the case she heard it. That is, until he heard a soft snore coming from her room. Chuckling to himself, he saw the book sprawled open underneath a hand brought out above her head. 

At first, he’d decided to leave her be, but just as he took a step away from the doorway, he heard her call his name. “Soul….” She said sleepily. The meister sat up and rubbed her eyes, taking a final look back at her partner. “You’re finally home. Where…. Were you?” Perhaps he’d simply been out getting a surprise for her, but as soon as she glanced at the clock by her bed, she couldn’t help but to look a little irritated. “It’s 11:00... I’ve been waiting for you, you know. I thought I was about to spend my birthday alone.”

“Your….. what?” Soul tilted his head to the side, confused. Was it really her birthday, or had he heard her wrong? Her dead-pan stare told him her words were true. On the outside, he stood, calm, but inside he panicked. He had nothing to give her, and had wasted his entire day that should have been spending with her! At this point, there was nothing open, not even the bar he’d just come from. No excuses could give way to his imagination and he’d paused entirely too long to pull one off successfully.

“Seriously?? Today was my birthday Soul…” Soul gasped at what was just the beginning of her response. Her face flushed in frustration, but her voice was calm. It was the calm before the storm. “How did you possibly forget about it after all these years…?”

“I… I’m sorry; we can have a party after…” Did they have anything else planned that also passed his mind? Hopefully she could answer this question for him before he made an even bigger idiot of himself.

The answer wasn’t what he’d expected, though. Now she spoke in a sterner tone as she slowly began to reveal just how angry she really was, as well as the real reason behind it. “Soul, I didn’t care about a party! I didn’t care about fancy gifts! It was YOU I wanted to spend it with! Didn’t you get any of the hints I left you?? Or did you pay attention or care at all?!” He stared, unsure what to say. “That’s what I thought…” she ended in disappointment. 

He really couldn’t remember, nor could get by with pretending like he did last minute, so the man resorted to the next desperate thing: concession for making it up to her. “M-Maka! I can make it up, I swear! Dinner?! Movie?! A song?! Anything you want!” Of all these years they’ve lived together, eaten together, fought together, celebrated this day together with everyone they loved, how could he have possibly forgotten?! What an idiot he was! Something about it bothered him beyond just how angry it made her. Perhaps he really was more ignorant than he thought.

She stepped toward him stopping as they stood inches away, face to face. “Good… I’ll be expecting you to treat me like an angel tomorrow when we go out...” Her voice was calm, scarily calm. The fury in her jade eyes was all Soul could focus on. “Oh, and by the way, I saved left overs for you in the refrigerator…” 

Dinner! Yes, perhaps if he told her he brought food, she’d relax a little! Before he could get the words out, though, a familiar thick book spine was slammed violently on top his head. Soul bent down and covered his hands over the throbbing spot before she could fit in an extra hit. Promptly a door shut in his face as well. So much for ending this night, her special night to be exact, on a good note.


	6. Coffee for Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Maka starts becoming disappointed in her partner's mishaps, the one she least expected to see visits.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Spirit walked gleefully along the paved street side, whistling an upbeat tune. Downtown Death City was the perfect place to be right now! The day was too beautiful and peaceful to spend inside. No battles, no errands. The only thing that could make it better was to see Maka, just Maka. 

He smiled when suddenly he realized there was a dainty coffee shop just around the corner he was approaching. Deciding to pick up a little caffeine along the way, he hummed merrily to himself as he walked through a set of glass doors containing a sign reading ‘Deathbucks Cafe’. 

The line before the serving counter wasn’t too long, so it seemed worth the wait. As it gradually became shorter, bringing him closer and closer to the register, the red head glanced around to keep his senses entertained before he was next. Just adjacent to the entrance was an outdoor patio, with fancy iron spiraled tables, designs intricate enough to create a flat enough surface to hold a hot cup of coffee and a book. 

Upon the thought of books, though, he couldn’t help but to notice a familiar head of hair in pigtails belonging to a young girl heavily involved in one. He gasped with a wide grin, unaware that he’d begun to dance in the spot he stood. “Oooooh, my Maka!!” he chimed. Bending down to get a closer look, he noticed she didn’t have anything to drink in front of her. Leaping back upwards with a small jump in his step he cooed even happier, eyes closed and imagining her flying into his arms.

A strange voice broke the father’s gleeful dance. “Ahem! Sir, are you ready to place your order?” Spirit gasped again. 

“O-oh! Yeah! Two…… two mochas, please!” he requested. Deciding to make it a little extra special, he added in, “Oh, and add some of those little marsh mellows!” Maka loved marsh mellows in her hot chocolate, so putting them in a mocha would be even better. Out the door to the patio it was. 

As soon as he made his way to her table, standing in admiration, Maka’s words stumbled as she nearly fell out of the chair at his unexpected presence. “P-Papa? What are…. What are you doing here?” 

“Why, getting a cup of coffee of course!” He smiled down at her and took the spare seat across her table. “And I got one just for my baby girl!!” Spirit continued, gleefully pushing the cup her way.

Without touching it, Maka stared down at the cup. Little pieces of white swirled around slowly, taking their time melting into the chocolate coffee. “Marsh mellows?” She raised a single brow and her voice carried a questioning tone that indicated just how awkward it was to have such things (though they were quite the delight) in a coffee. 

Oh well, what could it hurt? It came from the café’, not her father’s kitchen. Maka closed her book and set it down. Sipping from the cup cautiously to be polite at her father’s gesture, she found it to be a rather surprising delight to her taste buds. The taste of chocolate reminded her of hot cocoa. She’d have smiled at this if her papa wasn’t right in front of her. 

Neither knew what to say for a moment as they continued to sit, sipping away at their drinks. Occasionally, Spirit would raise his hand, as if to grab her attention, but as soon as her eyes rolled up to him, he’d choke up, not wanting to say the wrong thing. Why couldn’t she at least try to talk?! Despite, just the two sitting there was satisfactory, though, as it was more than what he could usually get. Dispelling Soul and Maka’s intimate time together just might have successfully leaded her to give him a chance after all!

“So… where’s Soul?” her father barely choked up before she got ready to stand again. Soul… why did the conversation have to be about Soul?! 

“Oh… I don’t know. Probably out again…” 

Maka’s voice sounded…. sad. Maybe Soul had fallen for someone else? (In which case, the spell definitely worked well.) If this could at all be, then maybe Maka would accept his sympathy! That’s right, he’d be father-to-the-rescue, and once again and Maka would share her heart with him! Still, he needed to inquire to make sure.   
“Really? As in, out with someone else, or…. Alone?” 

Maka’s harsh stare told him this wasn’t the right response. Spirit began to beat himself up internally, replaying the scene in hundreds of other ways he could have handled it. 

“Really, Papa? Shouldn’t you know him any better than that by now?” She received no answer, as Spirit sat, frozen, with utter panic to say something before she walked away in shame. Of course he would assume something like that. Still, it actually felt somewhat good to express herself for once. “It’s just that... he’s been so quiet, and distant… almost like he doesn’t even care about anything anymore.” Oops… she didn’t mean to say that much. Now she’d have to explain herself, or he would go crazy asking her. 

“Quiet? Isn’t he always quiet and careless?”

Maka dropped her head into her palms with a heavy sigh. “Never mind, Papa… It’s just something stupid.” Although it wasn’t. Soul stopped even asking her what she was doing, or where she was going, much less offering to go with. 

“Maybe he’s just wanted time to himself, and doesn’t want to admit it. Guys need space too, sometimes…” Well, except that this time, a little magic MIGHT have been involved. Still, Spirit and Maka were finally bonding. A little relationship loss was worth it since it hadn’t stopped Soul from remaining her weapon partner. Everyone seemed happy doing their own thing now, just the way it should have been. 

This brought Maka back to attention. Did he actually just say something that made sense with compassion? Come to think of it, Soul was very private with almost everything. The only time he was actually an open book was when they resonated. Otherwise everything else was communicated through small notions of body language or the slightest hint of different tones in his voice that only Maka could pick up on. 

Maka cracked a small smile. “Maybe you’re right…” She could afford to give him a little time and patience, and maybe then, Soul would come back around. There was no reason to feel abandoned just yet. He was always willing to wait for her, so she should be just as willing to wait for him.   
She didn’t really want to share more than that with him, though, so she decided it was time to leave. “Thanks… well, for the coffee and all… I’ll see you around, Papa…”

All he could do was watch her walk back in and exit the café, speechless. She actually wanted to see him again! If there was such thing as miracles, this was it! He sank in his chair, smile stretched wide across his face. He actually COULD win his way back into her heart! Oh, witch, whose name was….well, he’d forgotten…. At any rate, bless her power to make this happen! Everything was going to be perfect now.


	7. Unfinished Business

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Maka stood before the bathroom mirror, brushing her damp ash blonde hair. As she gazed at her reflection, she smiled in please on how much better she looked now that she’d showered and scrubbed off all the excess impurities. Her skin was clearer, her hair was brighter, and her smile was genuine in her relaxed state of mind. Even the cool air upon her almost bare torso, save for a sports bra, felt greatly better in comparison to the humidity of the desert. 

Sighing in relief, she set the brush down. “There…” 

Suddenly popped up who she least expected. Instead of staring into her own reflection, an image of Kidd appeared. His sudden visual existence into the bathroom’s fixture shocked Maka as she quickly grabbed a towel, throwing it around her chest. “Kidd!! I TOLD you to use the phone!!”

Even he seemed blundered, a hint of pink growing on his cheeks as he turned away to cover his eyes quickly. “S-Sorry, Maka. I tried, but the line was busy.” Maka rolled her eyes and brushed off the excuse, true or not.

“I just got out of the bath, if you haven’t noticed! What’s so important that you have to contact me here and now?” She really didn’t mean to sound rude. However, moments like this were usually an exception, since Kidd rarely used mirrors in more private places like this unless the reasoning was demanding enough. 

“I have a Kishin spotted on campus. I tried to send someone who was closer by, but it’s apparently more powerful than I’d judged it to be. We need you and Soul to eliminate it.” 

Right… another battle after she’d JUST freshened up. But she really had no right to complain. This is what they signed up for when they became close associates with the Death God. They were there to take out the foes that less-experienced students could not. For this responsibility, she closed their conversation, dressed and gathered Soul’s attention. 

If anything, this was a chance to resonate, to really connect with Soul once more, to do something together and hopefully close the distance that seemed to be growing between them. For this, she was happy to break her moment of relaxation and spend this battle with him in the hope that it would remind him why they stuck together for so long and light the spark they had once before. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.--.-.-.-.-.-.-

The kishin was a horrid mess in body. It’s face straggled and torn. Bare pink flesh found itself running at the team, leaving Maka just enough time to dodge. According to Death, this enemy shouldn’t have been beyond their level, but yet they were struggling, and in all honesty, Maka knew not a single bit of that reasoning was from her end. 

For some reason, their resonance didn’t strike back near as strong as it usually did. He seemed quite disinterested, and more interested in just getting it over, but for what, to sleep again? “SOUL!!” Maka shouted, half angry and half demanding, in attempt to gain his attention again. When he didn’t answer, she shook the weapon form violently. “Now’s not the time to daydream, Soul!! He’s coming right at us!!” What could he have possibly been daydreaming about? There simply was not enough connection between them to read him clear enough to know. 

Sure, she could have fought anyway in his lack of mental presence, but simple physical attacks weren’t going to finish the job. For this one, they needed magic, they needed a resonance. They needed a hunting move that would target beyond its flesh and strike right at the very tainted soul of the fallen demon, and the only way to achieve that was his cooperation. 

Suddenly, the reflection of his body in the blade rose to attention, as if to jerk awake. “Maka!” Maka sighed in relief, still half-irritated. If there hadn’t been a…. thing… charging right at them, she’d have stopped to scold him. “Alright, let’s do this!” 

At last their souls linked together. Some of the signal was still a little faint, but it was still strong enough to pull it off with ease, considering as many times as they’d done it before. A hunt attack should well enough destroy it. Maka stood her ground firmly as they both charged the energies in their souls. “Alright, let’s do this!” 

Soul nodded quietly, the same determined look in his crimson eyes.   
Maka swung her weapon behind her, ready to swing at full force. “Demon….” She hummed in a rising tone, ready to perform one of their most famous moves. “HUNT!!” She shouted, swinging Soul at full speed back around. Surely the impact of this would kill it. But it didn’t. Instead, she found herself pinned to the ground, Soul’s weapon form dropped to the ground. 

The monster had its long, skinny fingers wrapped around her throat. But why didn’t Soul come to her savior? Was something going wrong with him too? Just as she felt she couldn’t manage another breath, though, the monster flew off, releasing its grip. “What the….” Stein had come to the rescue! Maka glanced around in search for Soul. He was just a few feet away, back into his human form, his gaze staring off in the distant as though he was no longer in reality. 

“Soul!!” she shouted as she ran over to him. “Are you okay!? What happened!?” Her jade eyes were filled with panic as she examined his body for a gash, a scrape, a burn, anything… 

The Last Deathscythe woke back into reality, looking back at Maka. “I… I blanked out.” The look his meister had in exchange was not happy. It was mildly filled with concern, but at the same time, burned more in anger, likely from how he apparently let their lives remain in danger, or perhaps it’s because he hadn’t consulted what they were doing before letting her nearly die by its hands. 

Truth be told to himself, he couldn’t remember how to do it, though. Demon? Demon what? He wasn’t even sure if he could remember what they were doing in the first place, or why. But he wasn’t about to tell her that, lest the wrath he’d receive already be bad enough. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-..-

Now the team found themselves at home after a silent ride. Neither was sure what to say to each other, nor wanted to risk it in front of company, Stein to be exact, who’d offered to take them back to their apartment. In the midst of the battle, Soul’s motorcycle took damage. Their arguing continued abruptly once they crossed each other late in the evening in the apartment hallway just before their bedrooms. 

“We could have died out there, Soul!! In fact, I nearly did!! You can’t just let yourself blank out anytime you want!” Maka slammed her book onto his head again.

He slouched down, throwing his hands atop his head before she could slam it on there again. “Ow!! Maka, really! I-I’m sorry!! I just didn’t know how to…”

“You didn’t know how to summon Hunt? Really???” she finished for him with sarcasm, reading his thoughts quite well. They may not have connected well, but she was smart enough to put two and two together. “Soul, as many times as we’ve done it, I could do it in my sleep! That’s the worst excuse I’ve ever heard! ” 

Again, with that word, hunt. What was she talking about??

“Are you on drugs or something? Because if you are…” Maka stopped and stared deeply into his eyes, her own expression as serious as it could be. 

Panic filled him as he processed this absurd accusation. He wasn’t THAT much of an idiot! “D-drugs?! No!!!” Soul retorted.

“Soul, it’s like I… I don’t even know who you are anymore…”

“Makaaaaa” Soul replied, a hint of sympathy and softness in his voice. Fixing this was definitely going to mean sucking up some pride. He raised his hand to wrap an arm around her shoulder in said sympathy, but she was already turned around, face buried in tear-soaked hands. He paused in hesitation, wondering what he should do.

After the moment of hesitation, he reached forward to touch her shoulder, but before his hand could meet it, she walked away from him and towards her bedroom door, letting the book she’d hit him with drop to the floor before him. “I…. I just need a moment to myself, okay?” She couldn’t let him see her like this! Now she was just speaking with emotion, something that would just drive the conversation wrong when she didn’t know how he felt in return anymore. 

Once upon a time, he seemed to carry the same attraction she did, but now he just… wasn’t there, and at this moment, it was simply overwhelming. With her last words spoken, she walked in and shut the door behind her, leaving Soul speechless as he stood midst in the hallway outside it. Facing him in this blubbering mess of emotion wasn’t going to make things any better. 

Soul sighed in bitter defeat and confusion. First she was angry, then she was sad, and now she thinks he’s on drugs? He knelt down and picked up the book and left to his room as well. No sense in staring at her door. Best thing they could do at this point was sleep off the inability to think clearly in the middle of such an emotional mess and talk again once they became rested and rational again. He was just too exhausted to fight like that anymore.


	8. Lost and Found

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Dr. Stein’s office was almost as strange as the professor himself. Shelves lines up beside and behind his desk held bottles of encased dissected creatures, some to the point beyond recognition. Odd colored liquids were all that kept them preserved at all, else they’d be pure clots of rotted flesh. Papers were scattered all about the wooden desk top, various formulas, notes, and potential future projects.

“Um… Dr. Stein?” Maka hesitated, before cracking the door open. She didn’t feel particularly comfortable with seeing his jarred subjects, but there was a bigger mission at hand.

“Maka, please come in.” he replied as he straightened piles of paper. Easing in with care, she took a seat in front of him after examining the chair for loose specimens. “It’s odd of you to show up now. What can I help you with?”

“It’s…” she started, wondering if consulting him was really necessary. All her attempts to communicate with her partner had failed her thus far, though, so it was the next best thing. “It’s Soul.” Stein offered a curious expression, silently urging her to continue. “Well, it’s just that… he’s not been himself lately.”

He pushed his glasses up to cover his eyes once more and paused in thought before responding. “And how long has this been going on?” He couldn’t diagnose it on word alone, but it would help to have a few hints.

“A few weeks, I think.” Maka really wasn’t sure, so it was the best guess she had to offer. She just knew that he’d been increasingly fading out from who he used to be. A part of her concern had wondered if his black blood had anything to do with his odd behavior, that is, if he was even fighting it at all anymore. The girl couldn’t think of any other possibilities, as nothing else in their routines had changed. 

“And how has he been from what you can see?”

“He’s distant… has no motivation just about. Like he’s lost a sense of himself or purpose all together. He doesn’t want to do anything anymore, or doesn’t seem to care. I don’t know…. He’s just… different now.”  
Stein knew better than to assume that Soul would abandon Maka as a weapon partner after this long. This many years of loyalty was rarely left behind, and the few partnerships that were broken up after that length of time were cases where the other had died in combat. Perhaps it was a safe assumption that something - or someone - in his life could be distracting or pressuring him or his priorities?

With these possibilities swarming his thoughts, he answered in the only way he could right now. “Hmmm… well it could be a range of things, but there’s no way to know until I can examine him or speak to him myself. Why don’t you have him come and see me as soon as he can?” The words weren’t exactly encouraging, especially in his typical mundane voice, but it couldn’t be diagnosed with one confrontation.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. We’ll find out what’s wrong, and fix it, okay?” Stein continued after noting the concerned expression on his student’s face. 

The blond meister’s lips curled up a little, despite the worried look in her eyes. “Yes, professor, I know you can.” Feeling somewhat resolved by the simple act of just asking Stein, she decided to go searching for her weapon partner. Noticing the time on the large round clock on his wall, she stood up and rushed out of the office in haste. She needed to find Soul!

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“YAHOO!” the blue haired boy shouted as he landed, Tsubaki’s odd scarf-shaped form landing him only light enough so he didn’t break a leg. “Man, what an awesome session that was, Tsu!” His partner transformed back into her human form. Her long hair flew in the light wind, as though she were at a fan-powered modeling session. Something about that captured Blackstar’s attention. Amazing how he hadn’t noticed just how beautiful she’d been all those years back in Asura’s time. 

“Uh, Black Star?” Maka interrupted. 

His attention jumped immediately to Maka. “Oh, hi Maka! Sup’! Tsu’ and I were just doing some flying practice, yeah! DID’JA SEE HOW HIGH WE WENT?!” Black star wore a wide grin on his face, screaming pride a thousand times over as equally as the volume of his voice. If this were a snow-capped mountain, he’d have started an avalanche by now.

“Y-yeah. That was pretty impressive.” She replied, happy to see their accomplishment. And yet a part of her was jealous too, jealous of their connection, of their friendship...something that she and Soul had once. 

“You don’t seem that impressed. Maybe I should go higher!” the ninja exclaimed, aiming to impress the meister. Before he could continue his ego trip, though, his weapon interjected the conversation, noting something Black Star missed in his hype of his latest accomplishment.

Tsubaki’s voice was as soft and comforting as always, something Maka was glad to hear. It didn’t solve her problem, but it soothed her in a small degree compared to Stein’s near-monotone one (especially when he was the one she’d consulted first). “Maka, are you okay? Where’s Soul?”

“Yeah, where is that punk anyway?? I haven’t seen him in days.” Maka wasn’t sure if she was happy to hear Black Star say this. On one hand, she wasn’t the only one Soul had been ignoring, so it wasn’t something she’d done in particular, but on the other, if Soul went to the extent of avoiding Black Star, then something was seriously wrong over all. Those two were supposed to be best buds! 

If these two didn’t know where Soul was either, then she had to move on. There was no time to dawdle. The entire ordeal plagued her mind at its deepest and it wasn’t going to go away until she had an answer, even if it took all day.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Eight O’clock… After five hours of looking for her weapon partner, at some parts of the day just sitting hoping he’d come by, Maka grew quite exhausted of wandering about. The day’s search had no vail thus far and the sun had drained her energy. Soul never showed up at the park they used to walk at. He never showed up on any campus training grounds. Nobody in the school had seemed to notice him either. By now, Stein would be gone, doing his own personal twisted… Whatever he did. Lest assumed it was something nobody would want to walk in and see.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, the blonde decided to just go home. He would eventually show up there, if nowhere else. Morning was yet to come, and they would have plenty of free time then. Walking into their apartment, she slung her jacket onto a nearby couch, and followed by plopping down on it lazily. Closing her eyes in defeat, this was the first time she could recollect that she truly didn’t want to do anything but sit. 

A certain partner’s voice brought her back to life, though. “Oh…” Soul exclaimed with little to no enthusiasm. Great, this was encouraging. Again, a voice and a look of no motivation as he stood, hunched over and against the hallway entrance. He looked quite exhausted himself. Still, it made her feel better to know he was there. This was better than nothing at all.

Still, she couldn’t help but to question him. All the worry she carried couldn’t keep her mouth from opening to ask. “Soul! Where have you been?! I’ve looked all over for you!” Maka stood and walked to where he stood, bending down to look face to face at him. 

“I was… I...” he started, seemingly unsure of what to say next, not quite able to process a thought of reason.

“It’s okay, Soul, I’m not going to get mad at you. You do have the right to your own choices.” Again, after another pause, he looked lost, his eyes wandering in confusion, as if to look for an answer. “Or… you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.” Her gaze saddened at what she was seeing. He seemed lost, unsure of something, or like he didn’t even know at all. That was it. Soul simply HAD to go see Stein first thing in the morning. There was no time to waste.

…

Soul still didn’t have much to do or say, lost in thought.

“By the way, Soul, Dr. Stein said he wanted to see you as soon as possible tomorrow morning. So don’t stay up too late, okay?”

“It’s okay, I’m a little tired, anyway… I think I’m going to get some sleep now.” Soul rubbed his eyes sleepily. Maka could be content enough for now with just letting him get rest. Maybe he had an especially rough day today with whatever he’d been busy with. Or maybe he’d been feeling sick and just didn’t want to tell her? Part of her concern noted how he appeared slightly paler than usual. Not to the degree that he was dying, but just enough that only she would notice, something that any stress-induced event could trigger. 

She didn’t dare ask him more or touch him, though, despite how much it hurt with the amount of affection and bond that had been lost. If she pushed too much too quickly, she might as well push him away for good. At least, come tomorrow morning, she’d be able to find out an answer and begin to fix the distance that had grown. Yes, this would be her positive thought for the night, that tomorrow, things would start to become better again.


	9. Home Coming

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Soul stood before her, staring with blank eyes. She tried to talk to him, but he wouldn’t answer. “This isn’t a joke, soul! Stop playing with me and say something already!”

When he still did nothing, Maka grabbed his shoulders and began to shake him. First softly, nudging as carefully as she could as to not startle him upset. But he still remained motionless and silent. She shook harder this time, raising her voice as she cried his name desperately. Even just ‘hi’ would have been enough to satisfy her at this point, to let her know he was okay.

Still he just stood, not peeping a single response. She wanted to hold him, kiss him…

Finally the meister decided to kiss him anyway. She was going to take what she wanted regardless of how he felt. Too long had she waited for a taste of affection again that nobody’s opinion mattered. Wrapping her arms around him, she looked into his still blank eyes, pretending to see the heart he once had for her and the love that took years to admit to.

Just when her lips were about to meet his, he vanished into thin air leaving a smoky shadow where he stood. Her arms lunged forward to catch herself as she fell to the ground. Everything around her vanished afterwards. Was she that delirious from her aching to have him back that she, too, had given into madness? Aloneness surrounded her. No bodies, no objects, no noise…

Except for that beeping sound… It sounded almost like… her alarm clock?

Immediately Maka found herself sitting upright in bed, breath short and nerves stirred. Nothing was gone at all. She was still home, in her bedroom. She then turned to shut her alarm off. Gasping she looked back at the flashing red numbers after slamming on the button. Ten o’ Clock?!

The girl pushed herself out of bed and proceeded to fix her bed back hastily. It might have been late getting up, but she wasn’t going to be a slob. That was her partner’s job for as long as she’d known. Finally fluffing the pillows and placing them straight, she noticed something odd… They were spotted with something wet. Had she cried in her sleep?

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“No, no no!” Kid shouted as he looked in disgust. “The spacing is entirely uneven!” The outdoor greenery was to be touched up. Today he had Spirit helping him. At this point, he was beginning to regret recruiting Death scythe’s help. Kid wasn’t thrilled on the task or Death scythes’ company, but there was a lot of work to be done, and too little time and he didn’t particularly care about getting his own hands too dirty in one day. Besides, somebody had to look over it and make sure it looked right!

He’d have tried contacting Soul for help instead since he understood Kid’s needs much better, but his albino friend didn’t have a single green thumb at all. Soul was better off left as a watch-guard since he had a knack of paying attention to smaller details in their surroundings and the behaviors of those around them. Not that he’d been heavily needed in this duty lately since the peace that was established, so many, including him, had been given a decent break from the entire calamity and a moment to enjoy life beyond battle. 

Spirit grumbled under his breath, something about Kidd doing this mundane chore himself. Doing work for Kidd was worse than working for his father! At least the previous Death wasn’t THIS nitpicky. The silent comment bypassed the Death God as it was supposed to, especially since he was too busy using his hands as a frame to measure spaces and sizes of greenery. Beads of sweat ran down the side of the tired weapon’s face as he huffed in the heat. 

“Seriously, Kidd, I’m dying of thirst here! Can’t we at least take a break??” He asked in exhaust, heavy-footing back to where Kidd stood. He hunched his back and hung his arms in exaggeration of the toll that planting so much had cost so far. Golden eyes stared back at him in unwillingness to leave such an asymmetrical display on the lawn. “C’mon! Unless you’re going to finish it yourself! I’ve been out here for hours!”

Before he could answer, Kidd felt a vibration in his pocket. Since the beginning of his reign, he’d decided to carry a pocket-mirror around. This came in quite handy, actually. He didn’t have to go anywhere to locate one in the case he had to contact someone, and anyone could contact him regardless of where he was at. Pulling it out, he flipped open the square object, sized decently enough to get a full face to head view depending on how far it was held out. 

“Why, hello Maka…” he answered. With this, Spirit came hovering behind his shoulder quickly, gaining more energy than he showed himself to have before requesting a break. He held a large gleam on his face for the opportunity to see his daughter again. “Spirit! There’s not enough room to... Gah, get off of me!!” The two squabbled over the mirror space insistently.

The girl couldn’t make out what was what as they struggled with each other. An arm…. Some hair… a few close ups of Spirit… even an occasional palm covering the entire frame. “PAPA! I called to contact Kidd! Let me talk to him already!” Maka mildly shouted, stopping their battle over the view. She sighed in relief when the picture narrowed down to Kidd’s still head again, even though she could still hear her dad in the background. 

“So, Maka, what can I help you with today?” Kidd asked calmly, content enough to just have Spirit off his back. His other hand continued to straighten the ruffles out of his jacket.

“Have you seen Soul around?” she asked up front.

He’d grown confused at their question, knowing how inseparable they usually were recently. Soul rarely left her alone unless she’d asked or needed it. They had grown close to the point she barely had any problems with it. “No, why do you ask?”

“We were supposed to go to…” she answered, but paused with a light sigh of disappointment. She was a little curious if anyone else had noticed the difference in his behavior, though. “Has he been a little different to you lately? Do you know what’s going on with him?”

“No, I’m not quite sure myself. He hasn’t said a word to you about it?” His words came out with concern, but not as much as Maka carried. For all he knew, Soul’s absence could be either a good or bad thing. There was no way of knowing at this point. 

Still, only she was able to tell the smallest differences between Soul’s multiple looks of ‘boredom’, despite the number of years that’d passed since they all joined. This recent case was not something she cared to discuss in the presence of her father, though, even if their bond had grown a little recently. Her trust in something so personal was not easily shared with just anyone.

“Ah… not really. Just… just have him come home or call me when you see him okay? And… tell Papa I said hi.” It was courteous to at least leave that for him if nothing more. Before Spirit could jump to the mirror to respond in his usual over-excitement, she closed out the call. Kidd would understand her haste. 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

She’d almost given up for the day. Six o’ Clock was rolling around now and all that was left to do was just wait for Soul to come back home. Again, he failed to show up at his usual spots, and even Death himself hadn’t called, which meant he was unable to get in touch, despite his ability with mirror-messaging. He never answered his phone any more either. 

Bored and unable to focus on reading anymore, Maka grabbed a simple black remote beside her and turned on the large television sitting in front. She sighed in depression. This is what he would have been doing if he were here, sitting lazily on the couch with a remote in his hand and eyes glossy with the reflections of stupid manly shows or beautiful musicals. Really, these two subjects rarely mixed, and she wondered how he turned out the way he did.

Maka twisted her face in disgust when she noticed a movie was on, and a particularly gross scene appeared. A man was ripped in half, and the camera had managed to catch the minutest drops of blood and intestine involved. “Oh gross!” she exclaimed, turning her head and quickly changing the channel again. Now it was the national news. Better to stay up to date with national news than gory movies (again, a depressing reminder of her partner’s lack of presence), so she set the remote down, content to learn what was happening in other places.

Chiming in was a beautiful short-blonde haired girl reporting about a famous musician. Maka was tempted to change it again to avoid any topic involving him at all, but then she heard a familiar name, one that stopped her heart and hurt to hear more than she could possibly express.

‘Years after leaving for reasons we don’t know, famous family musician, Soul Evans, has finally returned home. While we may not have heard him play since his departure, brother Wes Evans claims that he’s maintained his skill very well. For those of you who are interested in hearing him perform once again, don’t worry! He’s resided back in the manor to regularly participate in the music business once again. In fact, the family has spoken of plans to feature a reunion concert featuring the younger son. It’s sure to be a grand turn out since it will be the first time they’ve ever played together on stage! More information on Evans and the concert coming soon. For now, we send a warm welcome home. Happy to have you back! On to you, Jack…’


	10. Visitations and Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, It's characters, or its concepts.

Maka began to question whether this was the right thing to do. Before her were the grand, cherry wood doors decorated by bronze handles. These housed the famous mansion that Soul rarely talked about, the one circled inside beautiful gardens, stone paths, and arch ways that beat out even the nicest of the parks nearby. His family really was as rich as he mildly spoke of only when asked. 

How she arrived so quickly, you wonder? The girl had borrowed death’s quick-transport mirror that was used for communication when he wasn’t looking. She really would have asked, but she had no explanations to offer, and she didn’t particularly feel like facing anyone with no logical reason to back up her want to visit Soul where he wasn’t supposed to be. She needed to go alone.

Part of her wondered if this was what he truly preferred, isolation from the life he had with the weapon and meister institution, if he’d really grown tired of facing the danger it posed to their lives every day. But another part of her knew that his sudden unannounced departure and unexpected change of agenda was unnatural, even for quiet people like himself. Even if he did mean what was relayed on the television, their bond was close enough he’d have never left without telling her in some form or fashion. So here she was, preparing to face him, to ask him why. 

Maka grew excited when she saw a tall head of white hair answer the door, holding her breath to raise a smile, but she let it loose once she realized this wasn’t Soul. It was Wes, the brother he’d been so fond, yet envious. Another reminder that this sudden move back home wasn’t natural. “Hello there. How can I help you today?” Wes’ smile was definitely one for public eyes, pleasing and official at the same time, as though it fed off attention. 

“H-hi… Is Soul home?”

Wes’ dialect sounded rather proper compared to what she was used to hearing from his younger sibling. His words came out prim and proper, just the way she’d expect from someone buried in riches and fame. “And who is this speaking?”

“An old friend…” Maka decided to surprise him. For what motive, she wasn’t sure. Let him know that she knew? Stop him from avoiding facing her if he knew?

Wes raised an eyebrow, suspicious of her reply, but seemed to accept it anyway as he confirmed he’d retrieve his little brother, stepping away after inviting her inside the visiting foyer before the grand welcoming stairway lined with velvet carpet.

Deciding to take a small front-view tour, she walked along the wall, staring at everything that adorned it. Elegantly drawn and apparently fairly old pictures of high-postured musicians with their instruments. The wall paper, if it was even paper at all as it felt too finely textured, held a beautifully striped pattern in rich greens and maroons. Everything was as crisp and clean as it could be as though nobody lived there at all to taint such tidiness. The scene felt as though there should have been classical music playing softly in the background and a fine wine glass in her hand. This was the life he left behind when he came to DWMA…

“Ahem…”

That voice! He’d finally shown up! Maka turned quickly, unsure whether to express anger at him for not informing her, or happiness that they were confronted once more. Either way, her eyes locked immediately on his ruby ones. She sprinted to where he stood at the bottom of the stairs and lunged forward. “Soul! Why didn’t you tell me this was what you wanted! I’ve missed you so much!” Maka pleaded as she threw herself at him. Her heart felt too strong in his presence to hold any grudge. “You should have told me, you idiot!” 

She expected warm arms to wrap back around her in return. Certainly he had to miss her just as much, considering how close their hearts grown previously. However, Soul made no effort to make contact, holding his arms back as she buried her face into his chest. “Soul… What’s… what’s wrong?” she continued, tilting her head to look upwards at him when she noticed he didn’t have a hug to return. 

Instead, he put arms in the small space she left between their bodies and pushed her off gently, shifting from his forearms to his hands, creating an arm’s length of space between them once again. “Um… I’m sorry, but…. Who are you?”

Maka stared in disbelief, unsure what to say in response. This had to be a joke… it had to be!

“No, really, do I know you from somewhere?” he said as he stared awkwardly in her elongated silence. 

Now she was getting irritated. First he stops talking to her. Then he just leaves without notifying her. Now he was going to deny that they spent any time together? What did she do so horrible for him to treat her like this? Now, he was really going to get it. “I… you… Soul, we were a team! It’s Maka, You, idiot! How the hell do you forget who your meister is? Don’t you care about the safety of the world anymore??”

“Meister? Team? Really, what are you talking about?” He raised a single eyebrow in utter confusion, awaiting an explanation. 

If he really wanted an explanation, she was going to give him one, one that she’d hoped his parents would overhear, one that would make him look stupid in front of the brother he idled. “Come on, really? Soul, you’re my weapon partner who turns into a scythe, and I’m your meister. In fact, if you recall, I’M the one who turned you into a death scythe! You know, we fight these creatures called Kishins and witches to protect the people we love, like YOUR BROTHER??” She explained, emphasizing in higher volume the mention of his brother. If he wouldn’t wake up for his brother’s sake, then he really didn’t care anymore. The blonde couldn’t believe it. She was actually running through almost the entire explanation of what they had been practicing and learning together for years. 

Soul laughed to himself sarcastically. “I’m sorry…. But I believe those are just characters in fairy tales. Apparently you’ve been reading too many of them. A human couldn’t physically turn themselves into some hunk of metal. It would take a great deal of iron in their blood. Even then, they would likely die as their system doesn’t support such a material.” It sounded simply too amusing to bypass on the possibility she could simply be on drugs, and too outlandish to be real (which was more than half the reason he’d even stuck around for this, for entertainment beyond rich parties and tea.) 

Before he could get the details he asked about, he changed his mind on the request. Rehearsal was soon and his mind didn’t need to be plagued with odd stories from a girl he’d just met. Such ideas were too distracting and the pianist needed to be at the top of his focus. Glancing back at what seemed to be a rather elegant clock on a wall where the stairways split up, he looked back at her. “You know what, never mind. Listen… the name was ‘Maka’ right?” Soul began. 

God, how good it felt to hear him say her name again! Even if she was a little annoyed at him.

“It was nice to meet you, and I’m pleased that you admire me enough to visit my home, but you’re carrying on this… fantasy story… a little too much. I’m going to have to ask you to go.” The man’s half-smile held intrigue, but his ruby eyes held impatience. Little to his knowledge, she knew him well enough to decipher each and every one of his smallest expressive quirks and read his body language like it were her own. 

He genuinely meant every word he said about not knowing her, about being so oblivious to the weapon and meister teams he described as being “fantasy stories”, and being ignorant to the existence of the kishins that posed what was seen as unperceivable science-fictional danger to the world. This reaction he displayed to her explanations were pure truth, as told by the unwavering look in his eyes as he listened to her, kept a stern gaze back into her emerald ones, and spoke in return with none of his classic grins to offer with. 

His admitting to carrying no knowledge of such out worldly ideas was no lie. The life they had, training, fighting, and achieving things that nobody else could was completely forgotten and disappeared. It was plucked away from her for no explainable reason. It was as if she, and everything associated with her no longer existed in his life at all…


	11. The Price of Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, it's characters, or its concepts!

Maka appeared before a large bathroom mirror, debating. Go back to DWMA and tell Lord Death and their accomplices, or simply stay here and let everyone think she’d disappeared, too? Tears and wet hands wiping them left streaks on her face, her eyes puffy, and her face pale. Soul was gone from her life, without a trace of memory linked to it. All the experiences they had together, all the battles they fought, how had they so suddenly been deduced to ‘fantasy stories’? 

Sure, her partner, or ex-partner, was prone to some forgetfulness, but not this bad. He’d leave his boxers laying on the bathroom floor, or an unfinished plate of food that he’d ‘conveniently’ forget so he could fall asleep where he lay. Things like these a simple hit on the head with a thick dictionary could temporarily fix. But never had he forgotten the very identity of the person he lived to protect since the day they met. Never for even one second had he ever forgotten their goal and why they did what they did. Never had he failed in their teamwork, their connection so close that they didn’t have to tell each other what to do, like he recently started to do.

She’d have still been at his door step, pleading and reminding him of their adventures, trying to convince him of his real purpose in life, but even that was interrupted by his stern parents stepping behind him when she’d started to refuse departure. One point to guards holding rather illegal looking guns told her she wasn’t going to win this battle, not today, and maybe not even alone.

Still standing stagnant in front of said mirror, she realized she had nowhere else to go anyway if she’d boldly chosen to run away, nor money or survival supplies. Sighing, she peeked back out the bathroom door. Nobody in sight to see her magical departure through a mirror, thank goodness. Little did she want to face her curious acquaintances and friends, but neither could she leave anybody in the dark. Unlike the current state of her musical weapon, she was too dedicated to the people who became practical family to leave them without a word like he had... For this, she had to suck it up and face them with the truth, even if she had no explanation behind it.

She breathed upon the reflective surface and quickly fingered on it the traditional numbers, 42-42-564, into the newly formed warm dew that would disappear in a matter of seconds. An image of Kidd then popped up before her in the reflection that was once her. 

“…Maka?” He asked, his golden eyes looking in wonder of just how she was in such a situation to call him like this, and from just how far away she was calling. This transportation method was typically only used when distance became a hassle. Kidd could be seen gazing left and right, trying to gage her location. 

“H-hey, Kidd… Sorry to bother you, but… I’m coming through, so…” she warned him, not wanting to step in to knock him down or push him aside.

Stepping aside, the young Shinigami made room for her to come through. “Right… there’s room, so it’s clear.” Before him, her physical shame came through the reflective material, like a photograph turning into a 3d image. She peered down and brushed her skirt down briefly before looking at him with such an empty expression. The girl hadn’t even said hello before he could tell something was wrong. 

“Maka, I wasn’t expecting you to take the mirror to somewhere. We’ve been wondering where you went.” Sure, she hadn’t asked to use it, but this time he wasn’t too upset. Maka obeyed rules (most of the time) and only disobeyed when it became necessary. Judging from the blank look in her eyes, she certainly had been in a dire situation, though he was somewhat afraid to say something that would make her burst out. He was a Shinigami, but his human friends were among the most important people in his life, and seeing them in pain hurt. 

When Maka still didn’t speak and made way to leave the Grand Death Room in which she’d both left from and now arrived back in, Kidd began to ask what was wrong. However, before he could get the words out of his mouth, somebody else stole them as they entered, now standing just a mere few feet before her.

“Oh, Maka! Are you okay, my baby?!” Spirit asked as soon as he burst into the room. Somehow, he always had a knack of noting his daughter’s presence before speaking to anyone else around her. Never mind if he actually knew she was sad or not, but the man knew she’d been gone for some time and just wanted to see her again and know she was safe and unharmed. 

“Papa…” she muttered silently back. Not in the way she did when she was annoyed and wanted him to go away, but more in the way when she needed someone’s comfort and he was the first one she wanted to open to. It scared Spirit and disturbed his peace. Rarely had she ever confronted him like this. In fact, the last time she did was years, too many years ago in her childhood when her mother, his wife, left them. Only serious matters really brought Maka this close to her dad. Her voice quivered, as if fighting to choose between breaking free all the emotions she held back this very moment or hold them in and save it for someone else more deserving. The meister tried to stay calm, but her heart spilled over anyway, unable to contain itself any longer. 

“Oh, Papa, it’s…!” she said, in attempt to speak the troubles on her mind. When she couldn’t, though, Spirit opened his arms to invite her, offering her a condolence, and Maka leapt into them, wrapping her arms around him in a tight grasp while weeping as if the whole world had died. “Soul’s gone… gone! And I don’t know how, or why! I…” Maka sobbed. “He…” She sucked in her breath for another sob between words, unsure what to say. Eventually, she just quit trying to talk at all and instead chose to stay in the comfort of her father’s arms as she let what seemed to be the tears of an entire world fall upon his chest.

Normally, at this point, Spirit would typically say a phrase to the point of “Papa’s here for you”, and in pride that he was doing something Maka could admire from him, but hearing this news of Soul bothered him too, except from a different perspective. Soul disappeared from her life entirely? Watching his only daughter cry so hard from what was likely the only heartbreak she’d ever received from someone of her age that she actually trusted her life with hurt him just as deeply. 

Is this what taking Soul’s love for her away really came to? Certainly it was a mistake how far it’d gone, something he should have been notified would happen. That damned spell... it worked even better than he’d asked it to, and the young lady he used to get ahold of it was long escaped from his own memory, too. This was something he couldn’t take back, and maybe, just maybe it’d done more harm than good. What selfishness had taken over him to notice this beforehand? 

For now, just holding her as she cried the pain in her heart away was all he could do. Perhaps she’d eventually find another weapon, probably look at men even worse than she did before since now her first love failed miserably after years of genuine promise and trust. This new-found father-daughter bond created through this… unexpected loss… keeping it would mean carrying a life-long secret guilt. ‘So this is the real price for acquiring Maka’s affection…’ the red-headed weapon thought to himself as he held the shattered weeping girl.


	12. No Laughing Matter

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, it's characters, or its concepts

“I’ve called you all here to make an interesting announcement” Kidd started off. Before him, the Shibusen (generally consisted of his closest most accomplished friends, and top acquainted professors) authority council sat at a beautiful oak wood oval table draped with a rich black table cloth. Perfectly centered was embroidered a large icon of the classic skull that stood for DWMA. How long it took Kidd to make sure it sat dead in the center of the table, nobody knew, and nobody bothered to ask. Rest assured, nobody attempted to shift the simple cloth, lest they ask to send the Shinigami into a fit for symmetry. 

He continued. “You’ll notice that two chairs are empty here. This is…. Well I’m not sure what to call it really. Soul’s decided to leave us for some unannounced reason. I’d have invited Maka here today, but I’ve relieved Maka for a few days to get together emotionally again. Didn’t want this to serve as a painful reminder so soon.” Many looks of shock and question turned to him quick as they could. 

“Unannounced you say? Where? To do what?” Stein asked. 

Kidd’s voice was very blunt and unamused. “Home... he’s been suffering memory losses that are intervening more than it should.” He answered, unsure of how many details to enclose. Given, they all were equally deserving of the entire story as Maka stated, but he had no answers behind it to give them. The Death God didn’t know what Soul’s quick memory loss was caused by or how they could be recovered. For now, home with his family seemed the best place to be. 

“It seems like a rather unnatural happening, considering how happy he seemed with his duties here at DWMA and how quick it occurred, but maybe there was something else in his life he never shared with us. I don’t enjoy that we weren’t notified, but his decisions are his decisions. I cannot force him to come back if he does not wish to or cannot. We will be, however, staying in contact, as he’s one of our biggest assets here in the school. It’s possible that he could be given enough help at home to return to his normal duties here in the future.”

Spirit swallowed hard at this. The weapon worried as to whether Kidd, or anybody in the room for that fact, found out about what he’d done behind their backs. Glancing around, though, he noticed nobody was looking his way so it appeared he was fairly safe. They were all focused on Kidd’s speech. It seemed that only he still knew the real reason Soul had dropped all interest in Shibusen so suddenly, but it wasn’t one he could necessarily broadcast. This was his burden to bear and he refused to let anybody else be bothered by it. 

“Since we’re one man down, what do you propose we do? There are no other Deathscythes, nor potential ones, to take his place. Our ground coverage as minimal as it can get already.” Stein noted, in his typical informative tone. 

Kidd sighed. Stein was right. “At the moment, the best we can do is re-arrange jobs among us until we can send some of our best student teams towards achieving a Deathscythe status themselves… in compliance to our allegiance with the witches, of course.” 

Spirit only felt even more guilt. If only the spell hadn’t gone as far as it did! There had to be something he could do to redeem himself to some degree! Then it clicked. The red head stood quickly, nearly shoving his chair against the wall behind him with a screech. “I’ll do it…” Everyone’s heads turned his way, eyes wide as if to silently ask what he was talking about. “I’ll take his duties… on top of mine.” 

“Spirit, you’re asking to do two men’s jobs at once. Are you sure you can even handle such a thing when you can only be in one place at a time?” 

“Yes…” Never had he looked or sounded more serious. If this was what it took to pay his debt to Soul, this what he would do. It was the least he could do. “I mean, it’s not like I stay very busy anyway, so, why not?”

After an odd silence, Kidd decided to accept. “Alright. Spirit, you’ll pick up Soul’s duties. Otherwise, for the rest of you, there will only be minor shifts in your routine. Thank you, Deathscythe. I knew there was a reason father chose your services.” As he spoke, he offered a confident smile, assured in the red head’s abilities. Spirit smiled in return, but little to Kidd’s knowledge, it wasn’t a real one. “Now, does anybody else have any recommendations that can also aid us in Soul’s place?” Everyone proceeded to rack their brains. 

After a brief silence, Liz began to chuckle lightly. When Patty noticed Liz laughing, it seemed to spark her off as well, cute high-pitched giggles escaping her mouth as well. In return, this brought Liz to laugh even louder. Everyone around the table could be heard chuckling about in return to hearing their laughter over… well nobody knew what it was over, but for the oddest reason, it seemed funny to hear them going on about something funny. Everything looked hilarious and sounded hilarious, regardless of how minor it was.

Eventually, the entire meeting room was nothing but people laughing uncontrollably. Nobody had breath between each to crack a joke, but they continued anyway, as though something were in the air to fuel them into these much-entertained moods. Some rolled on the ground, slapping the floor. Some fell out of chairs, trying to pull themselves back up only to fail, almost dragging their chair down with them. 

Even students and faculty walking by the door to the prestigious meeting room could be heard laughing, bumping against the thick wall, dropping bags and books. Had they found their amusement funny as well? If anyone in the room, or near the room at that, were sane enough to settle down and pay attention, they would have even noticed the oddity of the insanity in Stein’s laughter.

Finally, the entire council managed to calm down, catching their breath, heaving as they held hands to their chests and aching jaws, rocking back and forth in the exhaust in their lungs. Some were slapping the table as they finally found themselves soothed back down to seriousness. “So…” One heavy breath. “Now that we’re okay…” Another heavy breath… “Again… Wait, what were we laughing about?” Marie asked. Nothing but shrugs and grunting noises that indicated an ‘I don’t know’. 

Stein looked around oddly as the remainder fell into a relatively too relaxed conversation for their situation, some about simply feeling good and trying to recall what was so entertaining to tickle them all, others about scheduling solutions. Nobody seemed to make note of an observation he’d made just before their laughing fit, though. An odd sound… a somewhat distorted unpredictable one that he’d never heard before. First Soul disappears without notice, and then they were all suddenly laughing, though nothing that would have actually been funny actually occurred? This had to be more than a coincidence.


	13. Piecing the Puzzle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts.

Stein spun in his chair relentlessly. He’d been spending time putting pieces of the puzzle together, regarding Soul, regarding their temporary loss of control. It started with Soul abandoning Shibusen for a career he’d used the establishment to escape from. Then they fell into a laughing fit for no apparent reason. Since then, there had been other incidents, all ironically in terms of them losing control over some function of their body or mind. 

First came uncontrollable laughter though there were no jokes, then relentless tears though there was nothing for some to cry about. And it could have been a coincidence, but additionally, they had a moment where suddenly everyone within view dropped everything they were doing to eat, whether it was a dinner roll beside them, a sweet their shop served, or food off another’s plate. 

Lastly, each time an uncontrollable urge for an entire city’s population to do something or feel something always followed after its each own unique and odd sound or sequence of sounds. Not one was the same as the other. Stein would have just as easily covered his ears before he fell entranced, but the noise was unpredictable, and once it started the first note or pitch, all attention automatically gave way, yielding all muscles and thought into still awe before they were surprised with said involuntary notions. 

As a curious scientist, he’d even considered purposely listening just so he could either attempt resistance or try to observe his own actions. No effort for resistance went successful, though. He found himself caught in a moment doing exactly what everyone else was doing, only more aware of it.

The last involuntary action that the sounds caused is what lead Stein to finally breaking his experimental ways and resolving to speak to Kidd. Minor self-harm and actions that brought pain was the final straw breaker that warned him of the dangers of these and that perhaps there was an enemy behind it all. He could see the riddle coming together in Kidd’s golden eyes as well after examining his own unexplainable (and unsymmetrical) bruise cast upon a single wrist. If Kidd had really meant to do that on his own free will, he would have put one on the other as well. 

Sound waves that affected even a Shinigami… If it really wanted to, this… thing… that emitted such controlling sound waves could even kill everyone in an instant if it really wanted to. But thankfully, all this was for now was play, experimentation that even he would have conducted if he carried the same possible intents. The only problem was that when it striked, the source of the sounds couldn’t be located before effects took place. It was as if it lived all around them, and yet nowhere at the same time. Its attacks were seemingly untouchable and un-seeable. Simply put, it was pure trouble for those with no understanding or control of sound…

‘Sound… wait, wasn’t that… Soul’s expertise?’ Stein thought to himself in intrigue. Yes, this was the irony he was trying to solve! Without him there, they had no way of knowing or controlling…. “That… that’s it!” he exclaimed out loud, eyes widening in shock to the realization of the whole picture. Stein stood swiftly from his spinning chair, sending it tipping over onto the ground, answers flooding his mind so suddenly. This! This was the explanation of everything that bothered him so greatly! Something intentional happened, something to prevent the one weapon that could have helped them from being available! 

Quickly he rushed to the Grand Death room, where Kidd spent a majority of his time, mainly monitoring the events of the world as his father did before him. Bursting through the door without invitation or consent, he walked to where Kidd stood, surprised at this unannounced arrival. “Kidd… we have a serious situation…” 

“Stein?! What’s going on?” Kidd asked sternly, the sense of urgency contagiously spreading to him. He, too, spent much time observing. The Death God was the eyes of the thought while Stein was the mind. 

“Soul’s disappearance… I’m certain it was no accident. Somebody intended for this to happen. Tell me, did you hear an odd sound every time we did something we didn’t mean for in unison?” The both of them knew of each other’s concerns after the most recent wave passed and agreed to consult each other once they managed to pull observations. 

“Yes… I asked Liz about it, but she claimed to have no idea what I was talking about. I asked others as well, but it’s come to an odd observation that only those whom I know can sense souls actually heard it.” Others who heard no sound on the involuntary events simply didn’t seem to carry an understanding or timely memory of their actions due to the control. For this, they could gather no information from them. 

Steins eyes narrowed at this input. This is something he had not put into the equation, and it made the intents of these experimental commands even more suspicious. Had whatever was causing these desired to stay low key or was that some irony as well? “That number is very low, Kidd…”

“I didn’t want to upset her further about it so quickly, but I feel we’re going to have to ask Maka again exactly what happened and what Soul’s told her in her last confrontations with him. If it’s true that this source relies on sound, then we’re missing a very important key component in this battle...” Kidd sighed with a hint of defeat and sadness in his breath. 

“Let’s just hope we can reach through to him before it strikes again…”


	14. Greetings From Strangers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts

“Soul!” He felt a slight shake. “Hey, Soul, get up already, you lazy bum!” For a moment, he wasn’t sure if the voice belonged to a female or male, but for some reason, he could envision a girl by his bed, who’d let herself willingly into his bedroom. The image was hazy, her hair – which appeared to be possibly light in shade – her eyes which color was indistinguishable, and everything else about her too unclear to make out. Yet somehow he felt connected to her. An odd feeling it was for a dream to leave him with. Who dreams about strangers they can’t identify and yet feel so close to??

“Bro, wake up! We’ve got practice!” 

Ruby eyes bolted open, the sudden light threatening to burn his retinas as he quickly raised his hands over them to rub the sting out. “Yeah, yeah… I’m gettin’ up…” Soul sat up in bed and stretched his arms out, creating a “Y” over his head as he yawned. One glance at the clock told him he’d slept in too late! Fifteen after ten! “Oh shit! Mom and Dad’s gonna be so-“

“Seriously, where did you get such a filthy mouth from?” Wes interrupted before Soul could go into a cursing fit. “You know good and well that isn’t professional. Get yourself together now. They’re going to be waiting on us, you know.”

Soul grumbled. Wes was always the perfect son in his parents’ eyes. He was never late and was always well prepared to their parents’ satisfaction. In fact, Wes was indeed about to walk out the door, already fully dressed and aware that Soul had his own preference of transportation compared to such fancy long limos. By chance if Soul couldn’t be ready and present by the time it started, then the fault was his own. The younger brother carried the talent to be an Evans, but behaving like the typical rich society… wasn’t exactly his forte. 

Once he managed to wake and get ready, he checked off his mental list. Song scores… Check. Shower… Check. Wallet… check. Keys… check. Baseball bat to fight off all the fans… well, if only he could. Instead he’d have to carry a smile and polite attitude so they didn’t see him as the anti-socialist he really was. Entertaining wasn’t about playing in isolated leisure. It was about playing for crowds. Sighing at this notion, he finally hopped onto his bike and made way to the grand theatre’s practice hall.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Moments later, when he’d arrived, Soul wasn’t too happy with what he’d found. For goodness sakes, this was just a rehearsal, and for some unpredictable reason, there was already more people than he’d cared to see this early.

“Great, the parking lot is already full…” he grumbled. 

The lot was packed with fancy Buicks, Cadillac’s, and smaller sized limos. By the looks of how they sat, it was obvious a new valet had been hired. His considerably smaller mode of transportation would certainly fit, but it looked entirely too different sitting in the middle of all these unnecessary luxuries. The white haired pianist hadn’t counted on seeing this many practice attendants. Stopping to assess the lot in more detail, his train of thought was interrupted by a rather annoying greeting.

“Oh! It’s him! It’s Soul Evans! HEY! HEY! Oh my God, I can’t wait to hear you play!!” An unrecognized girl, rather young in age, could be seen screaming on the top of her lungs and swinging her arms above her head as she jumped. “I’M SO GLAD YOU’RE BACK!!” she exclaimed, squealing like a fan girl. Other students turned their heads, high pitched squeals and flirtatious giggling following. Seriously, he hadn’t even turned off his bike and somebody was already pulling this stunt?

“Y-yeah… Thanks.” He answered back, a false smile on his lips for show, and chose to move on a little further to the parking lot exit before they could say more. Maybe today would have been better off skipped. That’s when it hit him, seeing so many youth. Today was also the day for potential new-attendants orientations. Students from various other locations and schools would be seeing their future practice and performance grounds for the first time and gaining experience with higher levels. 

Today, skills would be assessed and decisions would be made on exactly who fit the talent descriptions that were sought. The only reason Soul wasn’t considered a part of this group, despite his fairly fresh arrival back home, was for the fact of his family’s status in the business and the personal practice he gained growing up within it. 

But then there was the fact that this shining beauty was brand new off the lot. He’d be damned if he trusted this unexperienced valet with his precious! Soul eyed a more casual lot just a short walk down the road, of which appeared he could park himself at. With his mind set on this, he chose a walk for the sake of his bike’s safety and security. It attracted less attention beside commoner’s cars, along with another bike in the lot as well. The walk would be nice, a chance to have a fresh breath of outside air before he got stuck in the stifled air of hall full of sweating musicians. 

On his feet again, and his baby parked where it was least noticed by the several younglings being tested (not that he wasn’t proud, but scared for its safety), the white haired man saw crowds of fellow musicians conversing in front of the theatre. He sighed, unwilling to face more welcome-back greetings. Just the first day was enough hell, and exhausting from the non-stop meaningless chit chat. 

“The back door it is then…” The path behind the theatre was beaten with an occasional drop of trash from high end players who thought they were entitled from cleaning. It carried a shadow between its tall brick walls, but otherwise it was relatively safe. Unlike most allies, no notable crimes or immoral trades of illegal merchandise occurred here. In fact, it was rather used more commonly to transport materials and instruments, well, when transfers were made. 

More important, though, it was isolated. Stepping into the last isolated turn he could enjoy alone before reaching a bound-to-be-crowded back lobby, the man stopped. There was a sudden eerie feeling that people were behind him without usual reason, and it was proven right when he heard someone call his name.

“Soul…”

Great, more followers... Now even this path wasn’t safe anymore. Escape from people was officially hopeless. He turned, with a disappointed sigh, and dead-panned to the people who dared to stop him back here. “Yes?” 

What he’d turn to see was quite unexpected though. The oddest duo that fit in more with cosplayers at a convention… One had on the most symmetrical black suit with white stripes he’d ever seen before and the other wore the oddest choice of some sliced up and repaired lab coat, with a rather large unnatural screw sticking out of messy gray hair. 

“And what can I help you two with?” They stepped closer to him, making him feel somewhat more uncomfortable than he was before. Their appearance shouted anything but music business and there was an odd determination in their eyes that made him question their intent in following him so. 

“Soul, we’ve come to take you home…”


	15. No Choice In the Matter

“We’ve come to take you home,” Kidd said, stopping him from continuing further to building’s back entrance in the brick ally way they stood. 

Soul looked in confusion. “What are you talking about? I heard no instructions of this beforehand, and I can drive myself back if I need to. I’ll go confirm it with my parents first.” Soul turned back around to continue walking on, but the two insisted on finishing the conversation further, quickly stepping around and crossing an arm in his way, resting their hand on the brick surface so Soul couldn’t step any further without ducking.

“So you really don’t remember anything?” the Shinigami asked in intrigue, golden eyes staring directly into Soul’s to assess the truth of Maka’s words, as well as his. If this talk could prove anything, at least he knew his friend’s habits after all the years of fighting battles together. “What are our names?”

To Soul, this questioning didn’t sound like it was going to go anywhere good, but it was apparent this black suited man wasn’t going to let him by without a question. “Uh… I… can’t really place you right now. Where did we meet each other?” Soul answered, backing up until he was a fair even distance between them. They were getting a little too far into his personal space for people who he didn’t remember meeting before.

“Do the initials ‘DWMA’ sound familiar at all?” Kidd dropped his arm back down now that they had him cornered.

“Um… DWMA?” Soul raised an eyebrow. “I don’t get it. What is DWMA?” The man was both curious and weirded out at the same time. They weren’t hurting him right now, so it was worth asking if it was something he merely forgot.

Stein interjected with an answer that Soul couldn’t possibly predict, given the memories of the life that had been taken from him. An exchange of a life fighting demons was apparently replaced with a now-normal routine away from those dangers. “Death’s Weapon and Meister Academy. It’s where you were trained and taught for years to use your ability.”

What was he talking about, ‘trained and taught’? How could a school be named after such a depressing morbid topic? He turned some so now both of them were in peripheral view on each side, eying the crazy looking lab technician on his left. “I’m sorry, but that can’t possibly be a real thing. Seriously, if I’ve been gone at some weird sounding school for weapons and uh… did you mean masters? Then I think I’d recognize it. ”

“Soul, you don’t understand the danger we face. Death City is in more and more danger every day that passes, and only you have the ability to counteract it. If you don’t find your true self soon, it could go as far as destroying everything here too, including the people you love. We can help you with that!”

Soul laughed. Never once had anything named “Death City” appear on a map, both in paper or computer. That was it. These two freaks were clearly intentional liars or they were high. He genuinely felt that these two were now just making things up to keep him in that ally way. Yes, they were quite intriguing to hear as well as imaginative, but if they had any more intent than just telling stories, he feared he didn’t want to stick around for more. He had more serious business to tend to, and now they were beginning to scare him.

“Okay, this is really beginning to sound ridiculous now. I don’t know who you two idiots are, but you make it sound like a horror movie, for Pete’s sake! People die in CEMETERIES… not some unmapped city named after something so morbid! Obviously you two are on something and… If this ‘mission’ of yours to save the world, from who knows what, is so important, why don’t you two go to this… ‘Death City’ and defend the world against… whatever it is… yourselves. As for me, I’m already late for practice and I don’t have time to deal with silly things like this, so if you’ll excuse me, I’ll be going now. Good luck with… your imagination.” 

Soul began to turn around to leave, but then he spun back to face Stein for one last thought. “Oh, and, you might want to go see a doctor about that screw stuck in your head. That could be what’s messing you up.” Now the white haired man turned to Kidd. “As for you… I… I don’t know! Just… get help please? And your hair is very strange. Go find a professional salon next time.” Normally, a comment like this would have thrown Kidd into a fit, but there was no time to concern.

Kidd and Stein were looking into his soul the entire rant. Something obvious had changed. Where his soul once been blue, it had been replaced with and unnatural red, a red as bright has his ruby irises. At this point, it was clear that something bizarre and unfitting was definitely wrong with him that couldn’t be assessed in one conversation, possibly something beyond their control. All the claims of having completely forgotten DWMA, its enemies, Death City, and all the people within it were true after all. The life of fighting demons, kishins, and witches had been entirely replaced with a relatively normal and ignorant civilian one. 

They needed to do something before everything and everybody they knew were destroyed by whatever this mysterious soundly force instructed them to do involuntarily. Unfortunately, their friend wasn’t about to give them a chance on their claims and not one more minute of his day as he proceeded to ignore any further potential conversation, and time was dwindling down. 

Soul walked on, passing Kidd on the way around the next corner. Before he could actually reach it, the Death God had taken hold of his arm. Ruby eyes glared defensively back into golden ones. “Soul... this is serious. Death City is in peril, and we need your abilities. Come with us and we can help you!”

“No…” he answered flatly. “I prefer reality and sanity, thank you. Now let me go.” The ignorant weapon yanked his arm out of Kidd’s grip violently, and gave one last threatening glare. Sanity... now that was a department to laugh at, little to his dismay, when it came to other things he'd also forgotten, namely a certain midget in red skin and a black suit who hadn't shown at all recently. 

Kidd sighed, dropping his arm back by his side. “I can understand your confusion. I’m sorry for this.”

“Good. Now have a nice day, gentleman.” With that, Soul began stepping away, leaving the two behind him. ‘Note to self, avoid this back way and stay in the public instead,’ the pianist thought to himself. He could be heard grumbling uncomprehend able ramblings about the lack of privacy in the back walkway and how he’d have to start facing the front crowds, scowl on his face. 

“Liz, Patty...”

Before he could get far, two more voices spoke up that he hadn’t heard before. “Right!” they shouted in unison, muffled as if behind some unnoticed barrier or speaking from behind glass. 

‘Huh?’ The weapon thought to himself. Strange, they didn’t have two women with them a second ago. Where could they have possibly popped out of nowhere from? Soul turned to see who had suddenly shown up by their sides, but found no females present. To his shock, there were instead two perfectly identical guns pointed his way, in the black suited boy’s hands, nearly inches away from his chest. Even stranger was the way he was holding them, upside down, pinkie fingers grasped onto the triggers.

“Whether you remember anything or not, I will not jeopardize the safety of my city and the people in it. Everyone has gone through too much together for us to just leave you here and forget about you. You ARE coming with us… ladies, it’s time to use what you learned.” 

A shot sound erupted from the twin guns, but no actual bullets came out. No left over smoke from gun powder rose from the shining weapons. No wound holes left him bleeding blood and life. All he could do is stand there, immobilized by shock as his vision faded almost completely out and his muscles gave way. So much for music rehearsals today... He could still hear faint voices as he lost control and the ability to get up and fight, though.

“We’re going to get you back, Soul…”


	16. Believe Me Now?

Soul’s vision was hazy as he slowly came to. Could everything have been a dream? Because certainly guns don’t just put people to sleep. They shoot holes and mortal visible wounds, induce bleeding, and kill. This… instead it was such a deep rest, as though somebody had shot him with a dose of elephant tranquilizer. He rubbed his eyes, haven’t yet sat up, to clear the sleep that fogged his view as he rolled himself half way upon his elbows up slowly. At the very least of his knowledge, he _did_ wake up in a comfortable bed.

 

Although, at one point, he swore that he momentarily saw a girl with blond pigtails, the same girl that came to visit him in pleas that they were some sort of team. She’d greeted him by name, exclaiming merrily, “Soul!” then briefly attempting to stop herself from tearing up. Before he could assess it, though, something kept him under exhaustion that refused to alieve the energy to get up, and instead he’d fallen right back asleep.

 

Now that he could see better, though, he opened his eyes wide in shock. This definitely wasn’t his room! It was as nicely decorated as one that would reside in the mansion, but certainly wasn’t recognizable! Shaking off the faint memory being a kidnapping victim, he put forth an optimistic hope that perhaps he’d just passed out, had some forbiddingly weird dream, and was found and returned home in a bedroom he’d yet to walk in to see since his arrival home. Besides, what kind of kidnapper offers their victims a place this nice to rest? If that were the case, he’d have instead found himself tied in rope or attached by chain somehow.

 

Determined to figure out just what happened, he stood up, preparing to find the next maid, family member, friend, fellow musician, heck, anybody more normal than the two strange men in a black suit and a shredded and resewn lab coat. Heck, maybe it was himself who was so tired he’d started seeing illusions? Laughing to himself over the absurd story, he looked around one more time, noting just how perfectly symmetrical the decorations appeared. Whoever designed it took their very sweet time fixing it. “Ahhh man… humans turning into real weapons… that’s just _insane_. Just wait till my folks hear about this one.”

 

“Yes… insanely _real_.” Oh no… this voice… it belonged to one of them in the ally, from yesterday. Maybe he wasn’t seeing things at all. “I see you had a very good rest, thanks to Liz and Patty. I don’t know how else I would have gotten you here so peacefully without them.”

 

“You! _You_ … leave me be, already! I told you I’m not interested in your made up adventures!” Soul backed up with Kidd still in his sight to a medium brown wooden table that rested on the right of the bed he’d woken up in, and grabbed his belongings , mainly a set of keys, a wallet, and a folder with some music scores in it.)

 

“That’s not something I can afford to do right now.”

 

Fumbling through his wallet, he made sure to verify that all the contents were still there, and they were. It was strange kind of men, these that were interested in someone’s presence other than their money, especially considering the status of his family’s name. In preparation for defense, Soul grabbed a nearby metal candlestick, in stance to attack if necessary.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            

 

“You won’t be needing that. I have no intent to hurt you. But, I suppose I should start off by introducing myself.” It felt rather odd for Kidd to be introducing himself when in fact the two had been good friends for years already. Curse whatever had taken Soul’s memories from him! “My name is Death the Kidd, or as others say, too, Lord Death. However, you can just call me Kidd. Right now, we are in Death City. In fact, you’re in my mansion as we speak.”

 

“As in the grim reaper himself? Okay… _Kidd_. So weird... If that’s _really_ so, then how and where did I die?” Part of him was genuinely curious, while another felt as if all of this was an extension of what they’d tried to tell him earlier.

 

“Is ‘Soul’ not a strange name as well?” A good point this was. Normally, Kidd might have had some response to indicating the oddity of name, but this was a special case. “I’ve already tried to tell you what I can, and there’s only so many times I’m going to repeat it, so… if you won’t believe what I _tell_ you, then maybe you’ll believe what I _show_ you. Spirit…”

 

In walked Spirit, another individual Soul hadn’t any encounter with before either. Soul carefully watched the red head casually strolling inside. In return, Spirit gazed at him for a brief second, appearing unsure whether to maintain eye contact or not. He was calm, yet the distant expression on his face shown that there was some heavy burden on his mind. As far as the Shibusen instructors, they saw it as concern for their city’s safety, a rather effective cover up, given their situation. Deep down inside, though, he knew the real concern that’d brought him down.

 

White light enveloped Spirits figure. Spirits’ shape disappeared and the light reformed into what appeared into the shape of a scythe. As the light faded, Soul could now see a simple black, but deadly looking, scythe resting in Kidd’s hand, propped upright, blade upwards, from the floor.

 

Soul glanced at his own ‘weapon’. Now in a state of shock, the white haired man wasn’t sure what to say, frozen in his spot and his eyes wide open in the surprise of what he just witnessed. A real man… just turned into a real blade? Couldn’t have been! Certainly this had to be a magic act! He narrowed his eyes again, looking into Kidd’s and away from the weapon himself. “Alright, alright… you almost got me. So what’s the trick here? A mirror? A box? A hole in the floor?”

 

“No tricks. I assure you, it’s quite tangible, and very real. Go ahead, take a hold.” Kidd said as he offered the weapon form to Soul, blade side turned away to enforce a friendly approach about it.

 

Soul was somewhat hesitant to take a hold of it, afraid of what other magic they had up their sleeves, but stepped forward, still leaving some distance between the two, and took the closest grab onto Spirits black handle. He leapt back away, the scythe still in his hand, and dropped the candlestick close behind him to get a better grip. Examining it, he tapped on the sharp curved sheet. It dinged like real metal, its solidity true. Now he ran a finger along the edges of the blade, up and down, feeling for some hidden source of light, perhaps miniature bulbs, or a reflective strip, but found none. What he held was a genuine solid scythe.

 

“You don’t have to keep stroking me like that, for goodness sake! I’m real, you know!” A voice spoke from the irritated scythe.

 

Soul dropped the scythe to the floor immediately. “What in the hell is going on?! Why did that scythe just talk?!” No, there definitely weren’t any mirrors or hidden holes. He grabbed Spirits weapon form once more immediately, suspicious that another trick had been pulled. Now he looked even closer, his eyes just inches away from it, examining for speakers of any form, small or big.

 

Before he could finish, though, Spirits weapon form surrounded itself in light once more. The light leapt back by Kidd again and reformed once again into the red-headed human form. Soul could do no more than stare in shock. ‘ _Impossible_!’ he thought to himself. This weapon actually transformed out of his hands!

 

“Then… so everything you said… it’s… _no way_ … I mean, you _really_ changed into that! No, I have to see it again. Transform again… but this time, right into my hands!” Soul exclaimed, holding his arms out so he could catch the scythe.

 

Spirit grumbled, but did so, promptly going back into human form once he’d had enough of Soul’s ‘oooh’s and ‘aaah’s. For one, this was wasting time. Given, it was flattering to hear Soul admire him so much for once in his life, but he knew good and well that there was the chance it wouldn’t last forever. If Soul ever found out why he was in this predicament, he’d probably hate him forever.

 

The caution Soul’s his voice transitioned completely, and his caution completely dropped as he spoke from amazement and intrigue. This entire time, he’d been mocking their words, refusing to give them a chance. But here now, he just witnessed exactly what they were trying to tell them as he shunned them away.  

 

Soul slowly circled Spirit, who wasn’t sure what else to do than stand still and looked the red head up and down in wonder. It seemed that all his components were still there and not a trace of a single blade now. “So… _I_ … can change into… _that_??”

 

Spirit hesitated lightly at Soul’s circling admiration. He preferred to get stares like this from ladies. “Well, not _exactly_ like this, but yes. Everyone’s weapon form is different from another.” With that, he walked back to where Kidd stood, satisfied enough in having proven their words true.

 

“That’s… that’s so _cool_ … Please, teach me. I… whatever life I had before… I want to relearn it, and live it.”

 

“And we will, but first, there’s somebody I’d like you to see,” Kidd answered, his tone sounding more confident and happy now that he’d finally started getting through to his friend. “Spirit, please go get Maka for me, will you?”

 

'Maka'... Now that's a name Soul had recently heard.


	17. A Long Awaited Reunion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soul and Maka is reunited after Stein and Kidd have brought him back home.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts.

She could barely contain her fears as she got closer to the room he was in. The last time she spoke to him, he instructed her to leave, refusing to hear any more of her words. What if he said the same thing this time, despite how Kidd had claimed that Soul was accepting to learn what his reality was again? As she finally reached the door, the girl paused for a moment, wondering what opening it would bring. Her heart raced a marathon against her thoughts. This was Kidd that sent her, though, so it couldn’t’ be that bad this time around.

Finally, she silently opened the door, giving it a nudge so it slowly swung open. There he was, not begging to go home, not insulting anybody’s words, not questioning where he was, or for why. 

“Maka! Welcome back. I was afraid you were out alone again.” Maka couldn’t take her eyes off Soul as Kidd spoke. “Soul, I’d like you to meet someone. This is Maka. She’s your meister, the one that’s yielded you for years. I thought you two might want to take some time to reconnect a little.”

Soul eyed her, not leaving his spot, and unsure of how to respond. How do you personally and happily greet someone you don’t remember? Especially after they showed up at your door step, throwing their self at you randomly. “Uh… hello.” How awkward this felt, re-greeting a girl who nearly stalked him. 

“S-Soul…” Maka exclaimed as her heart leapt out of her chest. “So… you’re really back.” Her eyes threatened to water and her body yearned to leap forward into his arms as she remembered the connection that had been severed between them. He may not have remembered loving her, but she remembered loving him. 

“Yeah…”

It was a hard thing to deal with, feeling things that weren’t given in return where it once was, only to be taken away without explainable reason. But she’d been warned that he retained no memory of anything, and she needn’t be doing actions that would throw off the little trust Kidd had gained thus far. Funny how well the Shinigami could predict her emotions. Apparently, he was more observant than she’d thought him to be. However, having Soul see her and spend time with her just might help trigger something that could help him gain his memory back quicker, considering the long history they had together. 

Kidd could sense the awkward reunion between one who cared about nobody more and another who had absolutely no recollection. They really needed to be able to connect again if this whole saving-the-world thing was going to happen. However, it was apparent that neither one were sure what to say, so he laid out a proposal before them. “Perhaps you could show him around some, Maka, so he’ll be more familiar with his surroundings again? And, Soul, you’ll be staying with her like you did before, anyways.”

“Okay. Sure thing, Kidd.” Maka smiled. ‘At least I have him here with me,’ she thought to herself. She couldn’t let herself be mopey for his welcoming home. He needed help, not sad company. 

Soul shrugged, willing the suggestion to pass without question. He was in a place he wasn’t familiar with, around people who seemed to know him but he didn’t seem to know anymore, and wanted to know more about what he did. ‘Maybe seeing more of Death City will help out’ he thought. Maka motioned for him to follow, and he did. 

As they exited the mansion, Soul spotted a rather appealing motorcycle sitting outside. He gazed at it with longing. It was uniquely colored, a shade of orange he’d never seen before, but something about it stood out in appeal. It was different, like him. What was odd was that the closer they came to it, the more he noticed that it was what they were walking to. 

Stunned and excited, he simply had to ask her. “Wait, how did you know that I prefer motorcycles?”

“Because we’re partners, duh! Here…” Maka pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and turned to face him, tossing the ring to him. “And it’s yours. You’ve had it since we met.”

‘Oh…’ Soul thought, happy yet intrigued at the same time. The weapon felt fairly relieved that he didn’t lose his taste alo g with the past forgotten few years. He was still him after all! Smiling, he hopped on the bike, reveling in the feel and recalling the freedom it gave him when he was on one. She hopped on the bike behind him next. Before he could start the engine, though, his stomach grumbled rather loudly. 

Maka chuckled. “Well, I guess I know what we’re doing first, then,” she said, with a light laugh and positive glow to her words. He blushed lightly, turning his head so she couldn’t see, but she knew the gesture better than he thought. “I’m kind of hungry too, come to think of it. There’s a place down the street, about ten blocks down after the sign that I think you’ll love.”

Soul wanted to question her, but he knew nothing about this town. If she knew this much about him so far, she just might be right. And he was hungry. Concluding it was safe to trust her words, he nodded, starting the bikes engine, revving it a few times in delight. 

Maka wrapped her arms around his waist. It gave her the most wonderful feeling, to be able to hold him, talk to him, even just be with him after the countless days of torture living alone and watching him disappear from her life as though it meant nothing. Not that it was his fault. But just to have his presence here and have him in her arms was good enough. 

Part of her still wanted to cry in happiness, but this wasn’t the time to be emotional. She had to remind herself that he, too, was struggling, and she needed to be strong for him, just like he was always strong for her. Without that strength, she would have never developed the close bond she had nor accomplished the things they did. For this, she sucked up her emotions, and smiled just for having his presence. 

Once they arrived and parked, he turned off the bike and looked up to his right to notice a silouiette of a fish that indicated they had come to a small, but nice looking oriental restaurant. Black latticed decorations covered the windows and angular red roofs resembled that of a shrine. Again, he couldn’t help but to smile. Something else she knew well about him; he loved seafood, especially oriental style. 

The two walked in and took seats in a soft booth across from each other. After the waitress came by and took their orders, Soul couldn’t help but to inquire in their odd solitude. “So you know my favorite food too?”

“Of course, you…” She was going to teasingly call him an idiot, but how would that have made him feel when he was learning everything over again? She changed her response for this reason so she wouldn’t accidentally offend him, but kept the teasing smile on her face anyway. “You tend to learn things about your partner after living with them, ya know.” 

“Of course…” Soul sighed. It was obvious everything was bothering him, and that he’d been holding back. However, he felt an obligation to apologize to this girl that he’d so insistently pushed out of his house, well… his parents’ house. “Look, I’m sorry I doubted you before. It’s just that… well I thought I’d been doing other things this whole time. Y’know… like… if you had a dream that felt real, then woke up to find out it really wasn't.”

“It’s okay, Soul… as long as you’re here again. I'm sure everyone understands. It’s... an odd circumstance that I'm sure you couldn't help.”

After a few minutes of assuring she wouldn't leave him alone in a strange place and that he'd find his potential again in his retraining, the waitress delivered two full plates of food that smelled nothing less of top quality deliciousness. Before Maka was some cooked fillets, fresh green vegetables, and a small side of fried rice. For Soul was exactly what Maka expected: slices of raw salmon on top of white rice drizzled in sauce, accompanied by two extravagant sushi rolls. She always wondered why weapons ate so much more. Did having magic in their blood really use up so much energy?

Nonethe less Soul was clearly ready to dig in, as he didn't even wait for her to start. Maka sighed hopelessly, shaking her head at his impatience. He never could resist good food, unless it was a party.

"So... How long have we worked together then?" her newly-reunited partner continued after chewing a bite down. 

She smiled at the question, eager for the chance to help him regain a part of his life. "Eight years. Shared an apartment and all." Her tone sounded proud, as if they had been married for forty more. “In fact, anyone would agree that we probably have the best resonance out of all the teams out there.” Soul raised his eyebrows in question, stopping in midway of taking a bite with a piece of fish hanging out of his mouth. “Compatibility and connection, that is, between our souls. And you can chew your food now…” Maka cleared her throat, shooting him a disgusted look.

Soul paused before setting a fork of food back down silently, realizing how much of his life he had mistaken. Recalling everything he thought he remembered about these previous years, silence overcame him, realizing how much of his life he was really missing. ‘No, no, this isn’t the place to get like this,’ the young man thought. Determined not to make a scene, he continued his questions, yearning instead to learn more about these past eight years he’d forgotten. 

"Oh… We really lived together that long, too? Isn’t that kind of…. awkward to just let guys and girls live together like that and… uh… do anything they want to?" 

The meister’s jaw dropped at what he was hinting at. “No, Soul, it wasn’t anything like that! And not every team gets involved that intimately…” Although she’d wished that eventually they could grow that close. What a long shot that was now, though! She’d be lucky if he just held her hand again. “You know, if you hadn’t already gotten some kind of brain damage, I’d Maka Chop you!” 

Realizing what she said, she gasped lightly, covering her mouth with a hand to try and avoid from saying anything that might remind him of his predicament. Internally, she shrank down, beating herself up that she might have said something to chase away any chances of getting his trust back. He just chuckled though, bypassing the thoughtless comment. “Right…” 

Maka perked back up, with an excited expression. Did he just remember something?! Perhaps there was hope after all! She lightened her mood, excited to see him. “You’re also lucky we’re in the middle of a busy restaurant!”

“Seriously, though, what’s a ‘Maka Chop’?” The look of amusement turned into deep curiosity again, his ruby eyes prying into her mind to learn more. What a disappointment… of course he’d be amused by the just words. If he wasn’t ducking for his life and covering his head upon hearing them, then he obviously forgot that too, as also indicated by his asking. 

“N-nevermind… anyways, I’m pretty full now. Are you ready to see more of Death City?” Agreed that they both had enough of one sitting, it was decided that it would be better to continue the tour. This was the day they were to relax before going into an intense training in hopes to get the Soul they knew back and save Death City before another wave did something unthinkable.


	18. Proof on Paper

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts.

It was an exhausting day for the two of them. Touring Death City over again proved to be more draining than Soul thought. It was a bigger, more active place than he imagined it to be. Perhaps it was also because his mind was consistently thinking in the midst of his feeling lost and confused, or perhaps it was the hot Nevada sun beating down on them. Either way, it didn’t matter what time his supposed long time meister and he usually considered bedtime. He was tired now.

Soul stepped inside their apartment door after her. As he walked in, his eyes wandered among the clean atmosphere. Did he typically keep it clean like that, or did she just clean it up for his return? No matter… he may as well get used to it anyway. The mansion he first woke in was entirely too big for his comfort. It reminded him of the infinite hallways that lurked between the thousands of rooms in his parents place. Well, maybe it wasn’t literally thousands, but looking down the walls looked like it. If they didn’t have maids, they would have never kept that place straight and dust free! Perhaps the same was true for Kidd, too?

He’d decided to find his personal spot in the relatively smaller abode to wind down from greeting so many strangers, and pulled his dark leather jacket and folding it over his arm. “So uh… nice place.” 

Maka fell onto the couch, lying across it lazily and stretched her arms across the arm rest. “Thanks! But it’s yours, too, remember?” 

“Oh, right…” The man paused, unsure of how dumb the next question would be, looking around for any hints that might lead him in the right direction. He found nothing that would make the answer obvious, though. “Errr…. Where’s is my room, again?”

His partner popped back, up, now in a sitting posture with her posture high and alert as it could be. “You don’t have to go to sleep right away, if you don’t want to. We can watch a movie together, or I can tell you about more things if you want.” She sounded quite upbeat, happy to do anything he wanted to. In fact, if anything else, she was anxious to keep him out there and revel in his existence as long as she could before sleeping alone in her room again. 

He was hesitant, though. “No, no… I think I’d like to sleep on it a little for the night. It’s just… witches, kishins, Shinigamis, humans turning into real weapons… it’s a lot to handle in one day right now. Maybe we can continue tomorrow?”

Maka pursed her lips in desperation of something to say, wanting to deny him of this. She’d rather fall asleep in his arms, know how it felt to be held again by the man she loved, but she had to be understanding in his situation, and cared not to chase him away so fast. So she nodded and agreed to give him some space. “Yeah, that’s fine,” she answered, keeping her composure. “It’s the first one on the right, down the hallway.”

“Thanks…” 

As Soul walked into his room, as directed by Maka, he was surprised to see it just as clean, save for some clutter on the small side-desk by the bed. Unlike Kidd’s place, this one had only one, and the bed was relatively less fancy (but still comfortable looking). It was a small room, dainty, sized just enough for one person, and minimally decorated. What little did hang on the walls and tops was definitely that of a pianist and avid music lover. Assured that this was the right place, he walked over to the bed and laid his jacket on it. 

However, as he sat on it, Soul couldn’t help but to notice a folded imprint within the blanket that resembled someone lying down, as if they’d recently laid on it after it was freshly pressed. Judging from the turns of the slight folds, the body it outlined was curled up. One arm stayed close, deduced from the faded shape of a palm or hand, and the other, stretched toward the bedside table. It looked somewhat unnatural, a position one wouldn’t think to sleep in at first. 

His eyes followed an imaginary out stretched arm, and finally fell on the clutter on the table. “Huh?” Pictures? It peaked his interest as he noticed a familiar head of white hair in them, and recently recognized ash-blonde pigtails beside jade eyes. Stretching over to delicately pick them up, he couldn’t help but to lock his red eyes on what they expressed. Taking in the sight, the weapon knew these were real. “So this is really…” 

He let out an exasperated breath. They looked so happy together in these photographs compared to the awkward silence they shared today. Scrunching his face a little in concentration as he looked at them, he tried to dig deep as he could in his mind to recall the moments these must have been taken. No such memories came up though. “Come on, Soul…” he muttered to himself in attempt for self-motivation. “You’ve gotta still have something up there!” The harder he tried, though, the more he could only think about what he’d believed he was doing instead, and the more real those stories of studying music felt. 

“No… no! Maybe there’s something else in here that’ll do it…” Determined to find more physical proof to overcome whatever was implanted in his mind, he jumped off the bed and knelt down by the table he found the pictures on. Opening the top drawer, there was nothing found but pieces of paper with scribbled notes. ‘Go see Stein tomorrow’, ‘Buy Maka a book’, a jotted schedule with lines crossed out, and last, but not least, a rough list of numbers, finances it looked like. 

“Was I seriously just as forgetful then, too? Geez….” Yup, that had to be what was wrong… he was aging. At this rate, he’d die with a room full of cabinets filled with this paper junk. Why were the notes stored in the bottom drawer anyway? Nobody looks there… Maybe some of them were things he wanted to forget, and had simply developed a habit of it? At any rate, he closed the drawer after sifting through poorly written notes. This was like digging through a treasure chest. 

Next he opened the top drawer. First he drew out a lanyard with an old faded plastic piece attached. It was difficult to see the paper inside, so he loosened the slip in it and pulled out the paper from it, reading out loud to himself. “Weapon… Scythe… Soul Eater… wait...” Looking away from it, he laughed under his breath, keeping his volume down so not to stir Maka from the other room. 

He’d have been more fascinated with the fact that it said scythe on it, but something else a little more new at this point new caught his attention instead. “Soul Eater? What kind of screwed up name is that?? Makes me sound like some kind of demon or something… ” Wondering what would have motivated such a twisted name, Soul ran his tongue over the sharp edges of his teeth, making him question either end of the irony. He humorously mimicked something he might say if he were introducing himself. “My name is Soul, and I eat souls…” If only he’d known how right it actually was…

Shrugging it off after a moment of entertainment, though, he dipped his hand in the open drawer again, more-so interested in searching more treasure, and this time retrieved some sort of newspaper article. It looked real, felt real… It also appeared to be dated back to about four to five years ago, but he couldn’t tell which, as the numbers began to fade. Unfolding it out and straightening a few crinkles best he could, his red eyes scanned attentively across the words, curious what event would have been so important to him that he’d save it this long. It titled in rather large bold font: ‘Kishin Asura Defeated.’ 

As he continued reading the article content, the curious man noted their names in the article. ‘We really defeated that together?’ Smiling in the surprise that he’d actually made a difference in the world beyond just playing music, his eyes rose back up to the black and white picture above it. Among the description were a few slightly familiar names since his arrival. Liz, Patty, Kidd. And some unfamiliar ones, too, (all be it some were almost as strange as ‘Soul Eater’) Black Star, Tsubaki, and a few more. 

Come to think of it, didn’t Kidd say he was called back to save the world again? He was to be trained to do all this again and everything was there to prove its reality. Pictures, ID’s, notes in his handwriting with her name on them, achievements with both their names listed… 

This ‘Maka’ girl… Perhaps she was more trustworthy and achievable than he thought…


	19. Welcome to Shibusen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts.

As they approached the large institute, Soul couldn’t help but to gawk at its design, stopping to observe every detail. Large Candles stuck out evenly on each side. ‘Some sort of night light for them?’ he thought, wondering exactly how much light they actually produced when the sun fell for the evening. Dark towers that resembled a witch’s tall lair for holding hostage princesses loomed over them, making him wonder exactly how many stories high this “school” was. What both least surprised him, and yet stood out more were the three perfectly lined skulls, their bottom tendrils leading into archways that outlined the large entrance doors. Long, red spikes through the holes of the center skull protruded outward enough to pierce anybody flying in recklessly.

“Welcome to DWMA! Death’s Weapon and Meister Academy!” Maka exclaimed proudly, a large smile on her face and an upward palm extended towards the building to offer a guided introduction. “Here, we learn how about souls, witches, kishins, and how to be better meisters and weapons.”

They reached the doors at last, and he stood there, leaned over to admire the details of the skulled handles. Grazing his fingers lightly over the design, the question of just how long it took to create such objects. “Amazing… how long has this existed??”

“I… you know, I don’t know. Probably at least hundreds of thousands of years. Almost as long as there’s been demon weapons around, for sure, though. Without us, though, I don’t think the world would be in near as much peace as it is, but I don’t think they need to know that.”

Rising back up, he turned to his meister with his hands in his pockets again, but still held astonishment in his inquiry. “Why? It’s amazing, really. If people understood it better, you wouldn’t have to stay so secluded.”

“Trust me, Soul, you don’t want that kind of publicity… Some secrets are best kept for surprise.” Soul looked into her jade eyes, curious to know more, and nodded, understanding completely. This look… it felt all too familiar with Maka. It reminded her of his gazes of admiration, a rather small notion, but one she missed quite dearly. She could stare back into his eyes for the rest of her life if he let her. However, they couldn’t just stand there all day, so the thought was broken to go back to business. “Well, you ready? Just follow me, okay?” 

Her partner nodded again, holding his nervous anticipation in silence. If people could turn into weapons, and cats could turn into people, then what else could turn into what? He thrusted his mind open to the endless possibilities in attempt to numb any potential further shock. A scene was the last thing desired.

They were greeted with a rather large space, a very circular appeal. An even number of hallways spread out from different angles to reach each tower, with a main greeting space centered right in front of them. 

“Oh! There they are!” the meister’s upbeat voice shouted. She jumped up and down, waving an arm in the air. At least one of them was excited for training. Soul, on the other hand, was slightly nervous. “Over here, guys!”

A somewhat larger crowd of people walked to where they stood. Two girls, both dressed alike, bounced around Kidd. The still un-named man in the re-hashed lab coat stared calmly, smoking casually. Soul was unsure whether he was staring at him, or something in the distance behind him. The red-headed weapon nervously looked around, scratching his head. Why he seemed so apprehensive, Soul wasn’t sure, either. Who was more nervous between the two men, he wasn’t sure.

However, they were greeted by the Shinigami himself first. Kidd smiled, glad to see them faring a little better. “Maka, Soul, welcome back! How did it go yesterday?”

Soul seemed a bit too interested in looking at everything and everyone, so Maka answered for them. “Interesting, felt kind of odd going explaining everything again, but I think we’re going to be able to get through it slowly. Although doofus here slept in late. Practically had to inhale his cold breakfast!” 

Ironically, the morning went a lot smoother for the both of them. After Soul’s bit of treasure hunting for self-discovery, he’d managed offer a more willing morning greeting than the awkward space he set between them the day before. It made the meister happier to be one step closer to normal again. The lifted burden on their re-developing relationship lightened the air and allowed them to be happier for the little that was regained.

“Can’t really blame him this time,” another standing among them replied. “It must have been a lot to digest in one day, Soul?” In return, Soul couldn’t help but to eye that same screw going through his head. “I suppose it’s best to re-introduce the others to you since they’ll be working with us today. They were very close friends of yours, too.” 

Soul looked them up and down carefully, unsure about meeting this many at once, despite how small the crowd was. They were supposed to be his friends, though, so he lightened his look to that of curiosity. 

Stein swung his arm out to point to each one as he stated each of their names. “Soul, this is Liz and Patty. They’re Kidd’s weapon partners, twin guns…” the doctor started, pointing towards the twin-dressed sisters. At this, Soul’s eyes widened in surprise, remembering his last encounter with them. It made him somewhat shy to say anything, not sure exactly how to feel about it. 

“Wait… you’re the two that shot me...” Soul glared cautiously at the sisters.

“Nice deduction skills, clever…” Liz’s sarcastic voice mocked. But then she gave a genuinely friendly smile. “Don’t worry, we’re not going to do that to you again. As long as you’re back with us, of course.” 

Stein cleared his throat and continued. “I am Professor Stein, Frankin Stein. And this is my current weapon partner, Spirit Albarn.” 

“Well, Soul, whatcha’ think so far? We totally missed you, you know?!” Patty burst out in a hyper voice, breaking the strange silence, and jumping in front of him, her face less than a foot from his. “Oh and… sorry about that little thing we had to do to you back then…”

Soul backed up warily, now well familiar what this young-looking girl was capable of. “It’s…. it’s okay… Just don’t do it again, please. Everything here is so… odd but interesting.” He paused in thought, looking at the place thoroughly. A particular observation about the decorations stood out though. ‘…and oddly symmetrical to a perfect tee’ the lost man thought to himself. One could easily get lost in all these straight halls with exactly similar designs and space between the doors!

Now the learning weapon walked to a nearby frame, plan in mind to leave a mark by the exit in case he had to make a quick escape. “It’s pretty impressive, though.” Taking the edge of a frame, placed a hand on it as though to admire it, and discretely nudged it slightly so that it was somewhat crooked. He turned around to walk back to the crew standing in the midst of the lobby, but instead of calmly walking back the man paused in surprise. 

Kidd had come running frantically to the frame, both hands on each side in panic, nerves leaving beads of sweat falling down flustered cheeks. “Horrid…. JUST HORRID! MY BELOVED WALL IS TAINTED!” He kneeled up and down, left and right, pushing the frame ever which so way. “It’s DOOMED now! I’ll never get it back the way it was! I’m a FAILURE! A rotten dirty no-good failure! I’ll NEVER be able to get this fixed back in time!” The Shinigami fell to his knees, pushing the frame one way, then the other. 

In return, the crowd tried their best to hold in an outburst of laughter, some of them with hands over their mouths. Except for Soul, of course, who stood there, with his jaw dropped in shock. Of all things, it was just a small crook, not the end of the world! “Oooh you sly one, taking advantage of him when his guard is down...” the taller sister snickered, winking his way. Soul’s head cocked to the side in question to her comment. “Don’t tell me you forgot that too?” 

In a way, it felt like they were laughing at him, too. Was his lack of knowledge that funny? His tan face reddened, both at the supposed Death God’s display of desperation and the remainders need to remind him of whatever was so important about everything being straight.

“Don’t sweat it Soul! You didn’t know.” Maka said, forcefully catching her breath, although she wanted to chuckle more. “Okay, so long story short, Kidd is obsessed with symmetry. I mean to a serious degree. We’ve tried everything possible to get him over it, but the obsession is pointlessly hopeless. Best just take it for what it is.” She raised her eyebrows and shrugged. 

“I believe it’s time to train yet, Lord Death. We should go now.” Stein waltzed to the desperately crying Death God and grabbed him by the back collar of his jacket. Now dragging him along, he passed the crew and continued on towards the training court. “We have more important matters than a picture frame after all.” 

That’s right… there was a city to save, possibly even a world. Without the recovery of Soul’s abilities, they wouldn’t have a chance at tracking whatever was sending those audible instructions. With all jokes set aside, he followed behind them, anxious to learn again what he did before.


	20. Battle of the Mind and Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Their intent to re-train Soul doesn't turn out quite how they imagined it would. It would reveal something disturbing that nobody would have suspected.

The Practice field was halfway what the untrained weapon expected to arrive at. One section contained a series of obstacles, another filled with dummies to hack and dice at, and a spot with a circle painted for close-quarter practice to set a line one had to push another across. Lastly, and largest, was an open field, suited for groups and without anything to bar the way of action. This was the space Kidd led them to as he came to a halt under the endless sky where the sun seemed to laugh, wide teeth grinning downwards at them. 

As Soul looked into the clear sky, he couldn’t help but to notice a figure of some sort, growing larger. The shape was unrecognizable, but then he began to hear a voice. “YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” It grew louder as it came closer towards them, and Soul couldn’t help but to wonder how in the world this person’s (if it was a normal person, he questioned) lungs could handle such a long-winded yell. Didn’t people usually run out of breath by this point? 

“Aaaaaaaaand here’s our final party members…” Stein said, tossing a cigarette and rubbing it into the ground with the sole of his shoe in a twist. Suddenly a loud thud shook the ground as Soul raised his arm to cover his eyes from the spreading dust. Other’s coughed lightly, but was able to catch their breath fairly quickly. 

“TSU! That was the BEST EVER!” Black Star laughed boisterously. When he finally managed to calm down and pay attention to the remainder, he greeted Stein immediately. “Yo, Doc, we training already? We went higher than we’ve ever gone before, and I’m not even warmed up yet!”

“Welcome home, Soul…” a soft angelic feminine voice spoke from a traditional looking samurai sword in his hands. The loud blue-haired meister shut up when he heard his weapon speak up. Sure, he was generally loud, but for her, he was willing to quiet down for anything she wanted to say. Somehow over the years, the assassin had grown fond of his partner and developed a deeper trust than ever.

Soul answered with a wavering voice, unsure about greeting another stranger who’d claim to know him for a life time. “Uh… yeah, thanks.”

“SOUL! Dude, where’ve you been?!” Suddenly the hyper assassin instantly reappeared behind Soul. Before Soul could turn around, He jumped on his back, latching on like a woman in distress piggybacking her rescuer, but his arms were so strong they nearly strangled him instead. The man’s face was near inches from his as he squealed strange indefinable noises into his ear.

Soul’s defenses shot up immensely as he swung Black Star around back in forth in a semi-circle, jabbing and working to eventually loosen his grip and drop him to the ground violently. “Seriously!! Who are you to jump strangers like that?! Geeze!!” Now he stood back in more distance, stanced to stop another jump. 

“The heck, man? That’s not cool! You disappear, forget who I am, then throw me to the ground when I give you my warm welcome?! Nobody treats a GOD like that!” Black Star smacked his hands about his pants to clean the dust from the catch off. 

Soul looked dumbfounded, blinking unsurely as he stared at the blue haired assassin, keeping a distance after such an awkward loving hug. This was a ‘warm welcome’? If it was, then what was a harsher one?! His claim of identity was even more alarming, as well as his name, though he mentioned nothing of it. “Wait, so there are TWO Death Gods??”

Maka came to the rescue before they ended up on another long-drawn explanation, or more so before Black Star could continue gloating and give her partner the wrong idea. She smiled in amusement in both Black Star’s usual never-ending pride and Soul’s silent look of shock. “No, no! But he’s strong enough to challenge one! Soul, this is Black Star, by the way, and his weapon partner, Tsubaki.” Tsubaki transformed back into her human form, her long black hair falling down once again. 

“Believe it or not, he’s actually one of your best friends here in the academy… Sorry, Black Star, he hasn’t really regained his memory yet…” Maka continued. Now leaning over close to Soul’s ear, she whispered ‘Don’t worry, this is completely normal.’

The boy completely overlooked the well-being of his friend’s memory, though, in defense of his pride. “What are you talking about ‘strong enough’? I’ve SURPASSED GOD, exactly like I said I’d do! AH HA HA HA HA!” Star bragged, hands on his wrists, standing tall and proud with a voice that once again went over everyone else’s and insistent to reinforce his traditional image on Soul. 

“As much as I’d love to continue this little meet and greet chat, there are more urgent matters here. I’ve gathered you all here today so we can work together on re-training Soul.” Kidd started. The white-haired weapon blushed upon hearing his name in such importance. Such attention, why did Kidd have to have so many people here just for this?? Maka smiled his way, and he returned a shy half-smile back, red eyes veering back to the ground again. 

“In all honesty, I… have no idea when the enemy could attack again or what it will cause us to do to ourselves or to others, so I’d like your help on getting him back up to par as quick as we can. It’s extremely important in defending this place against whatever is causing it. Your examples are some of the best I could gather. Especially since you’re close friends of his.”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Moments later they chose Stein and Spirit due to the fact that Soul might want to see how a ballad of his own weapon classification would appear. The cloaked meister swiftly turned and shifted in grace, pausing to swing another way, easily gliding in the air as if they had no weight to him. The black scythe spun in the air, in front of Stein, handled almost like a single end from a set of nun chucks, back and forth between his left and right. It was as if Stein didn’t even have to move his hand. 

Now with a circular swing above and around his head, the scythe shifted shape into an even wider blade, and possibly even longer. The blade emitted a dark light around it, like an aura of power. Soul stared in admiration of the change as fancy foot work danced patterns into the ground before he could even detect it happening. Suddenly their motions came to a stop as Stein held the blade vertically by his side and bowed. 

As they began his official re-training, transforming was one of the first parts of Soul’s retraining. Apparently, the trick to transformation was as easy as imagining the image of the weapon embedded in your soul, and focusing your inner magic with desire and will, as explained by Spirit. Weapons knew and felt the form of their blade, or any alternative variation because it was something that was a part of them, something they felt most connected to within their heart and soul. 

 

“Alright, are you ready, Soul?” Maka asked her reunited team mate, her jade orbs gazing confidently into his ruby ones. He just nodded nervously, not ceasing the eye contact. “Don’t fret. I believe in you! Just try to feel what’s in your heart and go with it, okay? I’ll be able to catch you just fine!” She stepped back, holding a hand out to guide him to his landing spot.

He let out a breath and closed his eyes, trying to fit in minute and exact details into the form he’d pictured. So many ideas and possibilities racked his mind, but he stuck with the first ones that showed up. Maybe gut feeling would get him through this! Feeling the magic flow through his veins, he focused his intent on transforming, and the light he expected enveloped him. But something just wasn’t happening right. He focused on the picture he’d created, but just didn’t feel any different. Soul opened his eyes and looked down, only to find disappointment. He was still human…

“I just can’t get it!” Soul exclaimed in frustration after a countless number of tries. Irritated in his failure, the image grew foggier and more faded as he persisted and changed the image various times of what he’d been aiming to turn into just hoping his guesses were right. Memory, least to say, was not serving any better than it did before he arrived.

Now tired and frustrated, it was clear they simply weren’t getting anywhere, even after the number of displays that the other weapons provided. The Death God decided that a change in the agenda might do some good. They would now take a break and try resonating. Maybe she could find answers to the changes in his soul, that odd unnaturally red hue it held now that bothered them so much, that they couldn’t get by looking from the outside. 

“Let’s do this instead. We’re going to practice resonation. That’s another important thing you’ll need to know if we want this to be successful,” Kidd instructed. 

 

 

Maka smiled with gleam. A chance to resonate with her weapon again! Ahh, this was a sensation she missed dearly… the intimate bond between them when they put their minds together! There were so many thoughts she wanted to share, so many memories she wanted him to remember through her, and this was the perfect opportunity. It was an answer to give everything back to him that he’d lost in this misconstrued mystery.

“And what is resonation?” Soul asked warily, completely unsure of how difficult it would be based on just the term alone. 

Maka answered eagerly, knowing Kidd would forgive her butting into his teaching and anxious to reconnect with the partner she cherished so greatly. “It’s the bond between a meister’s and weapon’s souls. They can communicate better, predict each other better, and strengthen each other greatly! It practically double’s a team’s efficiency and power, which is why it’s pretty much needed for more powerful attacks!” Soul just silently answered an ‘Oh’. 

“I’ll reach for you first, so you can feel it a little bit first, and then when you feel comfortable, you can try to connect, okay? Don’t worry, it’s pretty much as easy as… loosening yourself up and opening your heart and trust, really. Nothing too technical.” Again, Soul just nodded in return to her words, still somewhat unsure.

Now she informed him of things that might help; breathing at the same rate, maintaining the same thought, looking into each other’s eyes, and holding each others hand. Oh God did the last two feel so good to do again. Holding both his hands in hers, being able to stare into his red irises. 

He just didn’t know what it did to her. It reminded her of just how much she wanted him, maybe even needed him, in her life, and just how complete his presence made her feel. This was a moment she would relive for the rest of her life if given the option! But this was for training, not admiration! Setting her personal desires to the side, she reminded herself of exactly what they were trying to save themselves from and reset herself to teaching him this essential skill.

Now looking into his eyes once more and not letting loose of his gaze, he did the same in anticipation of what it would feel like to have someone tugging and reaching for his soul of all things. He appeared nervous, anxious, and almost unwilling to let anyone in. She could feel it, even though they weren’t even connected with each other yet. “You’re too nervous, Soul. You have to calm down and put trust in me without question.”

“I… okay...” The weapon let out a breath, closing his eyes once more to settle down his wandering mind. Now Maka silently asked for confirmation that he was ready, and he gave a quick nod. “Alright, I’m good now,” he said, looking back up at her one more time a little more confidently.

His meister smiled, and attempted to look into him once more, finally feeling the presence of his soul. He seemed more willing now, so she tugged at it closer to make sure he wouldn’t retreat. There was no defiance, though, and he answered with a reach in return. 

Now that they were closer to being connected and no longer blocked apart from a faultless mistrust, she could see his troubled soul much better. Although there was one thing the blonde meister couldn’t help but to wonder just now. How did she go so long without seeing his soul even once? Perhaps she wasn’t paying attention, or maybe she just didn’t try? Either way, she couldn’t help but to think she would have noticed at some point or another, despite…

What she saw now that she was here, though, disturbed her even more. Why was his soul red? Normally, his soul was a beautiful blue and energetic with positive energy. But this… it was a ruby shade, with an unstable shock about it. Something was wrong, very wrong! Her heart hurt for him, and she felt the need to proceed further. She needed to find out what was happening and why his soul was so… incomplete! 

Prodding for a closer communication to unite their souls, he was surprisingly willing to let her in. She could see it in his expression, he wanted help; he wanted to be himself again, and so desperately, too that it hurt. He was fighting a struggle with his identity. The emotions were almost overwhelming in comparison to what she, alone, felt! But as she attempted to complete the union, a sharp pain in her head grew almost instantly.

Trying again, and ignoring the pain it gave her, she became more insistent, but the barrier of his soul wouldn’t let up, as though it were made of steel, regardless of how much he seemed willing. No, this wasn’t on her partner’s end. He was trying just as much as she was to connect with her on this intimate level.

There was something about that red shade that made her suspicious of this reaction… now more insistent than ever to know what it was and fix it in any way she could, she tried with all the strength she had to take his invitation and combine their souls into one. 

Instead of forcing her way into his very being, though, she was forced back with unbearable stabbing pain in her mind. She let go of his hands, held her hands to her temples and bent down, screaming out. The sensation dulled back down as their friends came around her to catch her in the case she was to fall, holding her up in support. 

“I….” the meister stated, exhausted from the effort, disappointed from the failure, and shocked from what she found. “It’s not going to work…” The girl stared at the ground in disbelief, panic filling her jade eyes. 

Everyone let her go now that she was stable on her feet again. Kidd knelt down to meet her eyes, though. Since when were they ever unable to resonate?! This is what they were best known for! “What do you mean? What happened?” he inquired, his voice urgent as could be. 

“Something unnatural is there… some kind of barrier, a magic of some sort… like some kind of magic designed to keep me out…”


	21. What A Good Father Does

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts

“Something unnatural is there… some kind of barrier, a _magic_ of some sort… like some kind of magic designed to keep me _out_ …”

Maka’s words left several in shock. Kidd and Stein already had an idea that might be what it is, but the hope that Maka’s resonation with him would give them a more detailed answer failed. The magic that did it intentionally blocked her. Whether it was just her or not, they weren’t sure, but before Kidd could suggest trying it with someone else, he found Soul leading off to a quieter corner by himself, equally in distress as he kicked a few rocks on his way and hands stuffed in his pockets.

“Soul, wait!” Maka called out as she started to follow him, but Kidd put a hand on her shoulder before she could get far, holding her back.

“No, Maka. Leave him be for the moment. It’s been hard enough learning who he really is.” All she could do is nod, dropping to the ground and resting her forehead on her knees as she held them close, arms wrapped tightly. She’d have cried on the spot, but she carried too much worry for him, frantically racking her mind for more ideas.

Patty popped back into the Death God’s face with a suggestion. “Maybe… Maybe we could get Kim to look at it when she comes back! She’ll know more about magic than anybody!”

Kidd furrowed his brows, really wanting to give the suggestion a chance, but he was well aware of their limits right now. Unfortunately, Kim had left for a temporary leave to enhance her own skills as a witch. Occasionally, they would hear from her, but only if she managed a free moment to visit. “If we have time for that. She’s not even made it back yet, and I can’t exactly call them as quick as I can you all.” The mirror simply wasn’t made to contact the witch world. When peace was established, their privacy was, too, in order to really gain their full trust.

Despite that Kidd instructed them to leave Soul alone for the time being, the most unlikely individual managed to sneak by in midst of their conversation, using the distraction as a cover. Spirit sat beside the distraught weapon on the ground, backs leaning against the institutes clean black walls. In this spot, they were secluded, nowhere in sight.

“I shouldn’t have come back…” Soul muttered, followed by a small sarcastic laugh as he shook his head slowly. “It’s amazing, really. Everyone here is amazing… but who was I, to think I’d be able to do this?”

“Hey…” the red head said, stopping Soul’s words. “It’ll be okay, really. You’ll get it.” He tried to offer the younger weapon a smile, but all the confidence was already drained from him.

“Will it??” Soul asked. “I mean, come on… I can’t transform… I can’t resonate… and when we tried anyway, it hurt her!” Now standing up in determination to get his insecurities of the whole situation out, he continued his rant in a rather more upset tone. He turned to see his fellow scythe still sitting, looking him in the eyes. “Who else am I going to hurt in the process? _You_?? _Kidd_?? Someone I else I _love_??”

This comment put a nervous twinge in Spirit, well aware of how this situation got this far, how he LET it get this far, but Soul continued speaking before he could think about admitting. “I should’ve stuck with piano! I should’ve stayed right there at that theatre and never got dragged here! At least there I could have made a difference…”

Soul’s dropping confidence was killing Spirit’s heart. This was the weapon partner that his daughter trusted, learned with and accomplished so much with. Together, the two grew more than he’d imagined they could as a team and as defenders against the ignorant society. “You just don’t know what you’re capable of Soul! I’ve seen _amazing_ things out of you, things I couldn’t even dream of! I believe in you, Soul. Now you need to believe in yourself, too.”

Soul paused, staring down at Spirit as he spat his next words in despise unintentionally. He just couldn’t hold in the shock of his own dilemma anymore and play it cool like he’d wanted to. “And how am I supposed to believe in myself when apparently my entire life has been a lie?! And what does that make what I think I’ve gone through now? Nothing but BULLSHIT shoved into my head to make me believe I’m somebody I’m _not_?? I can’t even recall finding a single piece of paperwork or photograph of the last few years, until I arrived here! I…. I know nothing about my life, or who I am!”

Little did Soul know how right he actually was about his memories. He’d only deducted that conclusion because everything he thought he knew felt so real, as if he’d actually counted down the time himself. Each little detail of his life he thought he had made so much sense, the time he woke up, the days he spent, the activities he’d done, and the time he went to bed. Never had there been any kind of skip as he lived day to day that indicated an unnaturally lost moment. It all filled in perfectly normal. Or it did?

The aching weapons’ eyes teared up on saying the words, and his gaze saddened more than Spirit had ever seen it before. Normally shy on showing such emotions, he didn’t even care anymore. Soul dropped back to the ground from where he stood, curling up in a ball to crook his head between his knees and chest as he finished the little crying he’d allow himself before regaining control, lest anyone else besides Spirit catch him bawling in a corner by himself.

When Soul finally became speechless, he raised his head just high enough to wipe his eyes dry again with the sleeve of his jacket, sniffling the rest of his aggravation and depression away for the moment. However, Spirit couldn’t leave him like this. He needed to say something, ask something, anything to get Soul to talk. There was one question he had, and though he didn’t mean to ask in fear of upsetting Soul again, curiosity won and it came out anyway. “So, what did you think your life was before?” Right as the words escaped his mouth, he sucked in his breath, waiting to receive a death glare. Surprisingly, he didn’t get one though.

Soul stared off to behind his companion at the dark wall they rested at before, picturing the things he thought he’d done before learning about this place. “Moved out when I was young, around 14. I grew tired of life with my parents and their expectations, so I left to live with someone else. In fact, they paid for my homeschool, my parents that is… cause’ you know… it’s a sin not to finish your education.”

Soul glanced down and laughed a little at imagining what his mom and dad’s reaction would have been if they found out he quit. Then he looked back up at Spirit, continuing his story. “But I quit anyway. Can’t recall finishing anything I started. Some dumb little shit I am. Anyway, from there, it feels like I probably worked about ten or so ‘paid-under-the-counter jobs’ so I could get past the age restriction and lack of diploma ordeal.” Soul began to draw little circles, waves and spirals into the dry dirt underneath his feet, eyes focused on nothing in particular as he reflected on the low quality this false life seemed to have. “Kind of a shitty life, really. Nothing to show for it, you know?”

“Yeah, talk about it…” Again, Spirit cursed himself for making a dumb comment. If he could split himself into two, he’d be beating himself up right now. Heart-felt conversations just weren’t his thing at all! Little did Soul know that the older man was talking about himself, though. All the meaningless stuff he sweated out too much, dragged out too much, and where was he? Living _alone_ , that’s what, and without a wife, always trying to win over a daughter who didn’t trust him.

Still, somehow, this conversation was going surprisingly well, in consideration, and possibly one of the first true ones he’d ever held with his daughter’s weapon partner. Soul really was a much laid back person, and apparently, he took truth very well too. “So, why did you go back to your parent’s then?”

The scythe shrugged and continued his false-life story. “I dunno… because I wasn’t getting anywhere? Got tired of dead-end routines. Figured I’d best just use the talent I already have. It’s the life I was raised for, or…so I think it is. So I assumed it was the path I was supposed to go. Since then, my parents have stayed on me pretty hard to get better so I can par up again.”

Spirit stayed quiet, listening, TRULY listening for once. Already he was feeling more connected to his daughter’s long-time partner. At the same time, he felt fairly pathetic too. The guilt inside crushed his heart, regret filling his mind on what he’d done and the unforeseen hurt it’d caused. It left him speechless, wondering if it could possibly get any worse than this. “I don’t know, sometimes I feel like it’s only about the image, but… what can I do about it? I’ll just be a black sheep once more if I rebel again,” Soul concluded in the midst of Spirit’s silent reflections.

“You can get up and try again. We’ve only just started, you know.” This was the least Maka’s father could do, encourage the man towards success. Though alternatively, he thought back to what caused it all in the first place. Really, he held the answer they needed so desperately in his pocket, remembering that he kept it with him every day.

The question was, though, what was the price he’d have to pay if he relinquished it? How many years of hate and despise would he have to endure before they would give him another chance? Just as he was finally developing a better relationship with his daughter, and held his first decent conversation with her weapon partner, there was a chance he’d have to lose it all again.

“You’re right…”

Spirit turned, shocked at these words. Never had Soul spoken to him like that! Inwardly, he smiled to himself, having finally done something a good father might do. Maybe he wasn’t such a failure afterwards! With his last minute bout of confidence, Spirit patted around his pockets, trying to locate the necklace he carried every day.

However, when he couldn’t find it, Spirit began to mentally panic, feeling around the same places of his jacket and pants multiple times hoping he just missed it previously. He stopped, instantly jerking his head to look back up at Soul with wide eyes and worried he’d never be able to find it. Doomed, they were, horribly doomed, he thought to himself, his heart racing almost a million beats per second. It would be all his fault twice as much as it already was!

By this point, though, Soul was stood back up, getting ready to peer around the corner of the building’s quiet crook. Before he made his way to join the crowd again, he paused, feeling obligated to thank Spirit for his consultation. “By the way, Spirit…” he started, turning to face his fellow weapon with a warm smile once again. What he saw wasn’t what he’d expected, however. The red-head had fallen unconscious on the dirt ground. “Spirit?!”

Rushing to the man’s side, he turned him on his back and began to shake his shoulders gently, but well enough to rouse him. It turned to be unsuccessful, so he tried calling his name again. Still, Spirit didn’t stir. Not sure what to do, he rushed back around the corner he was about to exit from before the shock. What he saw was even more bazaar, though.

Every individual who was on that training ground lye unconscious, too. Maka, Black Star, Liz and Patty, as well as the reaper who’d brought him here, all blacked out at once. The white haired weapon frantically looked around multiple times, trying to find someone , anyone who was awake and could inform him what happened in his lack of presence, but nobody was found who hadn’t fallen along with them.

Scared of the strange phenomena and alone in his alertness, he realized that he was the only person on campus who’d remained awake at this very moment…


	22. A Gift From the Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I do not own Soul Eater, its characters, or its concepts!

Soul panicked. He was literally the only person among the entire institute who hadn’t fallen to the ground unconscious. He tried kneeling down, body by body, shrugging their shoulder to see if anyone was at least stirring back, but nobody was responsive. He was frightened in all honesty. Things like this only happened in movies and television shows! Demons weapons were back in their human form, just as gone.

Grabbing a nearby pole that others had been practicing with before they fell, too, he began to prod at everyone’s side, hoping one of them was ticklish enough to wake at it. Prodding turned into a light hit, not one hard enough to hurt or leave marks, but one that would be noticeable. Neither did this work! As he roamed, making sure not to leave everyone he knew so far too far behind, he glanced around in paranoia in attempt to keep an eye out for anyone whom he might not want to run into, someone who might have caused this to happen and have it out for him should he be discovered awake.

As he reached Maka’s side, he knelt down, dropping the pole, and shook her firmly, trying to talk to her in a voice that she could hear. “Maka! Please, wake up already!! You’re the one who’s supposed to know me best! Why just me?! Why did the rest of you fall?! Don’t leave me by myself here!!” When she didn’t come to either, he let her back down gently, unsure what to do.

Finally Soul came by and kneeled a little longer by Kidd’s side, shaking him harder than he’d shaken anyone else. “Kidd! Kidd!! Come on, don’t leave me alone like this, too! You’re a God, a leader!!” He shouted. The words echoed around the training ground and now he was sure he was going to stay alone for a long time. What about his family, were they okay? Had they fallen just like these students? Then the weapon gasped when he saw a golden eye open slowly, blinking to adjust to the sunlight. “Kidd! You’re awake! I… I thought I’d be the only one for a moment!”

The reaper rose and propped himself up with his hands to the ground, raising one back up to rub his eyes and glanced around. “Soul? What… what happened here?”

Now thankful to have a familiar companion by his side whom wasn’t asleep in the dirt, he spoke hastily, nearly running the words together. “It was strange! Everyone fell asleep at once! No one would wake up at all! I don’t know if it came in a quick wave, or in a split second, or how many others have, or why, or what, or who, or if everyone outside of here too, but… but everyone just fell! It was… scary and lonely.” Now he stopped, out of breath, unsure what else to say. For all he knew, it could have been anything else, too, since he was behind a corner when it occurred.

“Whoa, now… so everyone just fell asleep… except for you?” Now Kidd stood up, stretching and bending around to regain himself again. Somehow it felt as though all their nerves shut down, fingers and feet prickly like they’d fallen asleep. Soul nodded quickly, worried what the entire thing could mean, and why he was so alone.

Kidd laughed under his breath in response though. When Soul gave him a questioning look, he continued, “It’s just as I thought then… then the tune… did you hear it?” Soul just shook his head no. ‘ _Great… if only he could’ve at least been able to resonate…_ ’ Now everyone else began to stir as well. Several groans and yawns could be heard as they rubbed their heads and rolled over in attempt to prop themselves back up.

The group gathered up again, some still rubbing at their eyes and exercising life back into their limbs. Still, drooping eyes and sluggish postures expressed just how deep fell, even if it was just long enough to be considered a nap. For some, they become aggravated in their sleepy state, slugging about like all their energy had been stolen.

“It attacked again, that’s what,” Kidd answered. He sighed in defeat though, seeming unsure what to do now. Pacing a short distance, he continued, “We can’t locate it or defend ourselves easily without Soul’s specialty, though. And now because of some cursed magic…” The last words spit out in anger as he grew aggravated in his uselessness. Now the Shinigami knelt down and pounded the ground with his fist. “If only I knew the source of it, or who could possibly be behind it!”

Spirit swallowed hard at this question. Oh how he desperately didn’t want to reveal himself out here in front of everyone. At the same time he couldn’t just stand there holding the secret that tormented him so. Really, he didn’t even wish for his selfish desires to come this far. The relationships had become so good, but this cost simply wasn’t worth it.  
If he could just catch Soul alone, and apologize or bribe him! No, this was his fault, and it was eating him alive on the inside. The man just lacked the courage to come forth with it.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

It was late in the evening and everyone grew exhausted from surveying every corner and yard of Death City for unusual activity or presence. Upon realizing the failure that Soul’s re-training brought and the discovery of the magic that hindered it, Kidd assigned them to split up and scope around. However, upon questioning, no citizen, student or instructor seemed to have noticed anything in particular before they fell asleep, but one thing was confirmed: the entire city had fallen and it scared them to death, fear overwhelming them making them question just when they would all simply drop again.

But now it was fairly late in the night, and Soul and Maka were resting in their bedrooms, catching a good rest from today’s bizarre event. Except for Soul, who held something in his hands as he lay in bed, wondering what tomorrow would bring. It’s mystery was wrapped up in a thick dingy white cloth, dirty from the dust of Spirit’s pocket.

‘ _Don’t open this up in front of anyone else, please! Not even my darling Maka!_ ’ the dark scythe had previously pleaded in their last moment of privacy between the two weapons before departing. Strange, he and his daughter seemed to carry a very mutual and caring relationship. Maka even hugged him tightly like a loving daughter would before they all left that training field. Why would he want to keep something so…. _urgent_ … from her, only to share it with him instead? What was so imperative that he wouldn’t want his little girl to know when the world was facing potential peril? It lead to another interesting thing he’d said to Soul too just before walking away. ‘ _You’ve always been better for her than I have…_ ’

They were odd words, though, for somehow there was a sadness in Spirit’s voice as he said that, and yet also a wavering bout of confidence. He was so capable and encouraging from what he could tell in their conversation behind the building, and Soul admired that in him, unlike what he could find in his own father back home. If Spirit had not been there to hear him out, he’d be pulling his hair out in disappointment in himself and simply left in the notion to give up entirely.

In that dreaded mansion at home, would it have been his own dad, he would have instead been cursed at and told to practice more. But Spirit… there was a certain passion and patience about him that wanted to see Soul succeed. If only his parents could have been more like him. For this, he could actually offer a smile to the red headed man, and received one back as they departed, promising to keep his word on the secrecy of the item trade of the object he held, wrapped up in its cloth. Still, after it all, Spirit’s genuine desire to help out, the love he had for his daughter, giving up this gift that seemed so precious, Soul couldn’t help but to wonder just what the man was hiding under that caring skin. Whatever it was, it couldn’t have been that bad…

Well, come to think of it, he _was_ alone now in his bedroom, and curiosity began to get the best of him, so he un-wrapped the cloth. Within it held a beautiful blue jeweled necklace adorned on a thin, but strong, bronze chain. He lifted it by its chain, letting the diamond piece dangle and the cloth fall to the floor carelessly. “I don’t get what’s so important about this.” He brought the jewel piece closer to him, drawing the chain in with his other hand, careful not to touch the actual jewel itself so he wouldn’t leave any finger prints.

On the inside was an intricate pattern of cracks and yet the outside looked so smooth, as though it had a story of its own to tell that couldn’t be judged by appearance. Had it many previous owners beforehand? Had it been re-polished, or re-surfaced with new material, Soul wondered? But none the less, it was still pure.

‘ _It’s a beautiful piece, but I’m not sure why he wants me to have it. I can’t just take something so valuable from someone as generous as him without knowing. Oh well…I’ll have to ask him tomorrow, I suppose_.’ Soul thought to himself, yawning as he lay it down on the bedside table. The weapon lay back down and pulled the sheets with him, when he heard the chain drag a little. Turning back over, he could see that the jewel had fallen over the side, and was now beginning to out-weigh the thin chain.

Not wanting to let it fall and break on the first night Spirit had trusted him with it, he quickly thrust a hand underneath it and let it land into his palm rather than the floor. One or two finger prints can always be washed off after all, right? At least it was better than should it break! Catching it just in time, he twirled the chain back up a little and put it back on the surface more securely as he sighed in relief. He could always polish it back tomorrow before he left.

Now turning back on his side, back turned away from it, he closed his eyes and encouraged himself to finally go to sleep. Just as he drifted off, though, an odd feeling overcame him. Tossing this off as an effect of exhaustion, he ignored it, and didn’t rouse himself back up to question it. Little did Soul know what would await him when he woke though…


	23. A New Beginning

A short demon appeared before him. “I see you’ve made it back, my dear old friend… I was worried I’d lost you, and thus, lost myself... after all, we are one in the same!”

“What are you talking about? You’re just some monster in a dream. I could make you go away anytime I want to!” After refusing the taunts and denying that he wasn’t the same, the demon would only continue.

“Oh, but we are! I can make our world so much better… the power, the chaos… why don’t you say I take us for a little spin now? I do miss it all so much… don’t you want to rekindle the madness that made your life so interesting? ” It felt like pure madness emanating from the little devil, and so real he could feel it in his soul, but this was just a dream, right?

The demon’s menacing grin spread wide as it could get. His red skin tone, those same jagged teeth… and then in Soul’s vision came a field of dead bloody bodies as he stood among them, a landscape so tattered no one could live off it efficiently without dying from the heat first. Looking down at his attire, he now noticed that he was wearing the same exact suit as that ugly demon. Parallel and attached to his arm was a long blade of a scythe, stained in the same blood.

Unable to take more of the nightmare, Soul shot up from bed, his mind entirely too active to sleep. Beads of sweat fell from his forehead and cheeks as he fought to catch his breath. He leaned forward to rest on his hands and glanced at the clock. Just five O’clock in the morning?! The boy would have wanted to sleep in some more, but the images that ran through his head in his slumber left his heart racing too much. .

When he truly opened his eyes to the morning sun, though, something felt different. He felt…. less like a stranger in a hotel, and more at _home_. In fact, he felt more than that. Suddenly as he laid his eyes on the décor, Soul suddenly began to recall the stories behind each one. He stood up and shuffled to each, touching each item as though he’d developed new fondness of them.

First, a simple small piano figurine. Taking the small figure in his hands, he suddenly began to replay the moment he’d received it in his mind. This was real, a real memory! Gasping in excitement, he knew it in his heart and soul that this really happened, because he could recall the emotions he felt as though it were happening today. The day he’d received this, Soul pretended it was nothing more than a collectable trinket, giving Maka a light thanks, just light enough to show he appreciated it… when really deep down inside, his admiration for his partner’s attention to his passion had changed the respect he had for her. ‘ _It just made me think of you…_ ’ she’d claimed when he asked the reason why she’d picked it up back then, thinking of how it was just a piece of plastic. For these gentle words spoken from her heart, it held more meaning than he’d ever actually expressed.

Remembering he was alone in his bedroom, he brought his arms towards the celling and leaped joyously. “I’m beginning to remember things now! I’m… really home!” he exclaimed, in a somewhat giddy voice, excited that his life wasn’t at all the boring routine of recitals. Soul could feel it in his heart, the comfort, the memories of coming home to this small apartment every day, and being able to recall where everything was down to the last minor cracks in the walls (some caused by flying books)!

When the thud of his heavy landing was a little louder than he wanted it to be, feeling the slight vibration it drew, he pulled his arms back in to his chest, hunched over with his back turned to the door, and hid in a shadow. The Deathscythe turned his head cautiously until the open doorway was in view. “Whew!” he sighed, in relief, relaxing his body once more so his arms dropped. Nobody there!

Now silently continuing his discovery of his personal treasures (keeping his thoughts in his head now so Maka wouldn’t wake and see him so merry over small stuff), remembering each one as he touched them, Soul followed along another shelf. Now grazing his fingers along the vinyl records he kept in such good shape, he remembered what each and every one of them were without having to glance at the titles on the spine of the cover. Remembering he’d insisted on arranging them not by artist, but by genre (and not necessarily by alphabetical order, either), he could now instantly locate some of his favorite musicians without thinking, the ones he listened to the most.

Then there was the one that constantly skipped in the dark room within his soul. The man wondered why he chose to keep it, despite that he heard it more often than anything else and mainly when that annoying thing came around, but somehow he felt connected to it, and could never get around to tossing it, no matter how many times he tried. He’d get as far as hovering his hand over the trash, record in hand, wishing to forget about little oni without this to remind him again, but something always stopped him from letting it drop into the can.

Wait... that demon… so that demon in his dream was real! Soul’s jaw dropped in surprise to the realization. Yes! Now he knew it well, that he’d been living with that demon for years now, bothered by him in attempted offers of power, remembering how many times he’s said no, but how the demon came about in existence, he still wasn’t sure. There was a lot yet to learn, but it was all coming back quicker than he thought it would. Everything he touched and saw brought back more and more of the life he’d been missing since the spell’s dreadful effects that removed him from it. This was just the beginning of what he’d re-learn.

As Soul began to reach for a stack of photos (in hopes that he’d begin to remember these events pictured in them, too), his recollection was interrupted when his stomach growled. Normally, he’d wait until Maka was up, but Soul just knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep again. The awe in his happiness in recalling the real memories that were withheld before and the pain of the lingering hunger was too much to not stop for. Now he paused in admiring everything in his room like a child in a candy store and left to fix breakfast. This was the least he could do for his partner for putting up with him during these confusing times.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

“Soul?” asked tiredly, blinking. “What are you doing up? Is everything okay?” Her gaze was of surprise, shocked to see him up before her, but not as shocked to see him hovering so close over her bed. Was he grinning?! Sure they’ve slept in the same bed before, too, but something changed about him overnight, like a sudden bout of newfound confidence.

He merely shrugged and strode to the door again, though, his response quick and simple, controlled enough so he wouldn’t burst out on her in such childish glee over his discoveries. “Couldn’t sleep.” Maka raised her eyebrows. Since when does Soul not sleep in?! Before she could ask why, though, he interrupted her moment of surprise with something she usually did.

“Breakfast is ready!” Maka raised a brow, noticing the slight upward tone he had, but only to the degree that she would recognize. More than likely, he’d tone himself down back once they went out to Shibusen again. “And it’s going to get cold if you don’t get up.” Okay, now this was _really_ weird! First he’s up earlier than she. Then he made breakfast. And he’s in a happy mood about it?

“O-Ok…” The meister could think of nothing else to say, so instead got up to enjoy the rare moment. Upon her arrival at the table, she found her favorite: Eggs sunny side up, French toast sticks, and a warm cup of green tea with just enough sugar for a hint of sweetness. “Wow… thanks, Soul! It smells delicious!”

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Smiling in awe at the sight, she happily sat at the simple square table as Soul pulled a chair out for her. These little notions really set her heart going, reminding her of just how sweet he really was despite how he projected himself to others and how he only entrusted these small notions with her. It was something that set their relationship closer than most, the great amount of trust they held in each other. Then she noticed how he happily looked in her direction. She began to get lost in his gaze, thankful to see him happy again after all this time, until he interrupted.

“Good. I thought you might want your favorite after yesterday. It was a bit of a rough day for both of us.” It genuinely pleased him to see her happy again, and he could do nothing more than smile back.

She paused in mid-bite with a questioning look on her face. “Wait, Soul, how did you know it’s my favorite?” Putting the fork down for a moment, she tilted her head in curiosity.

“It always has been, hasn’t it?”

“Wait so…” Maka began, wanting to ask exactly when his memory started coming back. There were no notes or recipes that stated what their favorite meals were. Unless… somebody told him? “Where did you learn that from?” She had to make sure! Celebrating and assuming things too early always got them in trouble, after all.

“I just… _remembered_ it.”

Maka dropped her fork onto the plate. The clanking sound echoed in the kitchen as she fell silent, mouth dropped in a gasp. Her lips rose slowly and her eyes began to water in the joy. In the shock of the news, she jumped out of her chair, leaping around to where he was about to sit, and jumped onto him, wrapping her arms around them as they fell to the ground. “Soul! So you’re back?!”

Now she was on top of him, her face buried in his neck as they lay on the vinyl kitchen floor in the unexpected embrace. A slight blush came over his cheeks when he realized just how intimately close they were, leaving practically no space between any portion of their bodies, legs entangled and all.

“Whoa, whoa now! I… I only just started remembering things!” he defensively said. “I don’t know everything yet!” the man exclaimed, feeling like perhaps she was taking this a little faster than she should as he raised his arms from the embrace to beg for some space again. Although, something about them being together like this felt right… only he still knew too little about it to simply accept it blindly.

The girl lifted herself halfway off so she could look at him. “Oh… right… sorry…” There was sadness in her tone. She questioned why she’d come to such a hasty assumption that he’d remember everything overnight, feeling a little idiotic about her overreaction. Her heart just ached to have her partner back so bad, that she’d merely wished that had been true. She wanted to tear up, halfway from happiness, halfway from disappointment, but before she could, Soul commented with something positive.

“Well, at least it’s a start! Better than nothing, right?” He answered, trying to offer something to lift her spirits some. It hurt him to see her so sad. This relationship with each other must have meant a lot, something he’d yet to understand fully. There were so many memories to regain yet. Fortunately, she found a smile to give back as she nodded. Just because he wasn’t all hers again today didn’t mean he wouldn’t be closer to that tomorrow. Somehow Soul always knew what to say, even now!

Maka gasped suddenly, though. Standing back up quickly and shooting a fast glance at the time lit on the microwave, she exclaimed, “Soul! We’ve gotta tell Kidd!!” Regardless of her feelings, there was still that unpredictable unknown force that threatened Death City at any given time. Her partner stood up as well from the floor and dusted his pants off briefly. Perhaps now his retraining would go along a lot smoother! The quicker that he could learn again, the quicker she could get her partner back, her Soul...

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Needless to say, breakfast was quite a bit more rushed. They’d practically inhaled their food as she rushed the both of them to get ready. Now they were fed, dressed, and getting ready to walk out the door. There was no time on the meister’s watch to dawdle around home, so her partner just went along like usual and followed her cue. He, too, had his own personal motivations to return to the school.

As they gathered their items, Soul lastly remembered to pack the necklace. That’s right! He was going to ask Spirit about it… Soul started wrapping it back up in the cloth that’d dropped on the floor just the night before, but as he did, he noticed something slightly different about it. It had a small clear spot, as if its color faded from the inside. No, no, he thought… certainly dropping it one time, and on carpet of all things, couldn’t do this to it?

Was the jewel not as pure as he thought it was? Just yesterday it was as perfectly solid blue as it could be, no imperfect spots to be found! Now Soul questioned asking Spirit about it at all if he’d been at fault for damaging it! Nervous about the red-head’s reaction, he stuffed it in his jacket pocket anyway. Hopefully it was just something he dismissed when he was looking at it last night in his exhaustion.


	24. In Love All Over Again

Amazingly enough, as soon as they walked into the institution, Soul seemed to remember exactly where he was regularly scheduled to go for duty and where it was at as well. Every new site and body they ran across brought more and more of his memories back, information flooding into his mind quicker than he knew he was capable of handling. It was like the information had never disappeared. Everything felt so familiar, like he could make his way around alone again and still manage to return to this exact spot he stood. The information was there as though it’d never disappeared. The connection still felt somewhat off, but he felt he’d eventually get it all back in due time at the rate it was already going.

When they noticed the time and realized how little they had left to report to their responsibilities, Maka had to make sure he would be alright on his own, giving him a speedy quiz containing questions like “what’s your schedule,” “where do we eat lunch at regularly,” and “where do we always meet at the end of the day?” She needed to know in the case they were separated. The girl jumped into Soul’s arms unexpectedly with an excited squeal, but this time her embrace was a little more welcomed. Somehow, Soul began to feel more comfortable with these random outbursts as he saw more connections revealing themselves, connections that tied their lives together in ways he’d yet to understand fully.

And separated, they were, when Black Star stole Soul away, insisting they needed to play a one-on-one game of basketball again to catch up. “YO! BRO!! You’re finally back! What took you so long?!” Black Star inquired in his rather vigorous greeting upon seeing the white-haired weapon. When the ninja first spotted his albino buddy, he’d ran to knock Soul down on the floor and playfully punch him in a way they knew they wouldn’t get hurt.

“Dude! Black Star!” Soul replied, laughing, wrestling back just as harmlessly. “Seriously, man, we’re in the middle of the hallway! Totally not cool!” Although admittedly, he enjoyed the little toss between them quite a bit. He just wasn’t willing to show it in front of so many people, watching as they walked by staring down at the ground where they lay with questioning looks.

The blue haired man jumped up, posting with both closed fists upon his hips. “Aw, don’t be a wimp, Soul!” Now he pointed at soul rigidly enough to poke anybody’s eye out. “I challenge you to another B-Ball game… one on one! You know, so you can’t cheat on this one! YAHOO!!!!! AH HA HA HA HA!” This was laughter of someone with too much pride, pride that needed to be knocked down a few more notches again.

“What! I… I do not cheat! I’m just better than you, that’s all. Accept it and cry!” Soul retorted. Although really, they were quite on par with each other in that field. Sure, Soul wasn’t a nimble assassin like Black Star, but with enough practice he’d managed to nail down keeping up with him on the court.

At this notion, Maka could only sigh and smile as she witnessed the connections between two best friends bloom beautifully. Who was she to deny Soul this simple pleasure after all the stress he’d been through? Winning a good game of basketball might even make Soul’s day even better! Besides, the meister accepted that she would be fine finding Kidd on her own whim.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Now Maka brushed through crowds of fellow students making way in the midst of their course changes. Not caring how many shoulders she’d nudged, there was no room for concern. Traffic kept them later than she’d intended for them to arrive this glorious morning, and she wasn’t about to miss one of the few opportunities of the day she had to find their obsessive compulsive Shinigami. Kidd was a rather busy body, having much on his plate of management.

Room after room, she’d failed to locate Kidd. Now she tried one last place, the Grand Death Room. Bursting through the door, she shouted, a smile on her face as wide as could be. “Kidd!?” The room was silent without a body to be seen. “Strange, I wonder where he’s at. I guess I’ll have to wait for him after school hours then…” Backing up to shut the door again and continue her search, she was stopped abruptly when her back bumped into somebody. “O-Oh, sorry!” the ash-blond exclaimed, turning to see who it was she’d owed an apology to. The girl gasped when she found out who it was.

“Maka, darling!!” Brilliant blue eyes set below crimson hair sparkled in delight. His typically overly-animated voice toned back down, though, as if a bothersome thought interrupted the usual joy he profoundly exhibited when in her presence. “I wasn’t expecting you here so soon… w-what’s up?” In all truth, he was unsure whether to show up at the school at all. Ever since he’d given the jewel back to his daughter’s weapon partner, a single thought replayed in his mind. It haunted his sleep, seeping into his very dreams. ‘Should Soul touch this, he’ll remember everything he forgot, and know exactly who did it and why.’

A rather optimistic voice broke his concentration on recalling the warning over again, though. “Papa! You won’t believe it!” his daughter exclaimed as she jumped up in excitement. This time it was her who was so animated today, compared to her father’s calm, laid back posture, with his hands his pocket. Spirit raised his eyebrows and smiled back, as to silently inquire what had her so giddy. “It’s Soul! He’s starting to remember everything again!”

For a moment, Spirit swallowed nervously, expecting her to turn on him like she did at times, but she just continued smiling, energetically spouting off a story about how Soul woke her up for breakfast, answered all her questions correctly with ease, and didn’t fail to recognize their friends. “He doesn’t remember everything yet, but now we can finally retrain him again! And he’ll be able to turn into a weapon again, and maybe even resonate with me once more!” Maka’s arms flew one way in another, as if she were drawing it all out in front of him on an invisible sheet of paper. Some students ducked to avoid a flying palm, even.

At this very minute, she was essentially an emotional clone of her father, in a state of mind that she’d never been seen in before. Spirit couldn’t help but to chuckle a bit as she spoke. Perhaps there was a little bit of him in her after all, when given the right circumstances. On a more positive thought, she wasn’t mad after all, or not yet! If she’d known how it all came this way in the beginning, certainly she wouldn’t have been so expressive like this with him. Maybe this was a sign that it’d be okay after all, even with things at his fault.

Then again, he couldn’t help but to wonder, did Soul just stay silent about it and forgive him already? Or did Soul even figure it out at all yet? He was all too nervous to ask, afraid to ruin this perfect moment. “Maka, my baby, I’m so happy for you guys!!” he suddenly shouted in a merry voice again, wanting to share another bonding moment together with the daughter who’s love he’d regained and still held onto for the time being. He held his arms open and she jumped willingly into them, holding her father tightly, trying not to burst out in tears of joy.

Maka jumped back again once she’d regained control and clasped her arms back up close to her chest, her hands held closely and tightly together by her heart. “Oh Papa, I’m just so happy to have him back! You don’t know how hard it was. I wanted to cry every day, but now… now I can come home with him knowing he knows who I am again! I’m never letting him disappear again!” she finished, her voice toned down from the previous hyper state, but still joyous. This girl happy, too happy beyond her usual self, happy like… _someone who’d just fallen in love all over again_ …

“Anyways, I’ve got to find Kidd, and tell him, too! And don’t forget to meet us at the training ground after school, okay!?” the blonde meister delightedly reminded her father just before running off, leaving no time for him to answer. All he could do is smile as he watched her skip off, watching her figure fade away back into the crowd again.

Little to her recognition, though, Spirit did understand the torment she’d been through. His torment was different, though… When was it that the duo would turn against him? When was it that Lord Death would ban him for plotting unapproved deals with a witch he didn’t know at all? When was it that he’d lose his daughter’s love all over again? And when was it that he’d have to finally pay for the guilt of his sin?


	25. Faulty Jewelry

The end of the school hours had come around. He needed a moment to breathe in privacy. The amount of information he’d obtained just by being at the institute was nearly overwhelming, but it had come in a way that it felt somewhat comfortable, like he was home again. He could be a _few_ minutes late for training. They might ask where he’d gone off to, or if he’d gotten lost, but to his own assurance, he sure wasn’t lost! In fact, he remembered his entire way around this building now, having walked it’s halls as everything came back to him like it never left. It felt more or less like a tour that he’d walked several times, and just forgotten until he’d simply seen it again, naturally regaining his directions on his own.

 

Ah! A restroom, finally! With students having already started leaving, he’d surely be able to find the restroom to meet his need for a few minutes of privacy. Here, he could finish digesting it all without someone stopping him to ask about his well-being.   Hastily turning into the men’s room, he rushed into the small space and slammed the door shut, hoping nobody had seen him. He’d dealt with enough greetings as it is!

 

Oh, but he wasn’t alone after all. Just as he’d slammed the door and set his back against it as if to block others from being able to open the door after him, a high pitched yelp could be heard from one of the stalls. Now the sound of someone stumbling back up from a fall to regain their balance, hands clambering up the close wall, their sides probably slamming against toiletry items hard enough to give them bruises. Judging from the hands that grasped the top of the stall door with ease, it was somebody rather tall, too. Soul tried desperately not to chuckle at the act of clumsiness. They could have been seriously hurt!

 

“Are you okay?!” Soul asked loudly, genuinely concerned that they’d hit something wrong when they grew quiet. After a few minutes of waiting for an answer, it didn’t seem like the man in the stall was going to answer. Worried that perhaps the man was injured after all, (otherwise Soul would have _never_ barged in on anyone’s privacy in a restroom like this), he gently set his hand on the stall door, to find that it had been accidentally unlocked in the short wrestling, as it gently pushed open.

 

“H-hi….”

Soul could only sigh and give a questioning look. Of course it would be Spirit. Who else stood at nearly six feet tall with hair as red as his? He seemed like he was functioning enough, with his blue eyes, wide open as they could be, staring back into Soul’s red eyes in surprise. “Are…. you okay?”

 

Spirit slipped out of the stall quickly, taking spot on the floor again a few feet away from the white-haired weapon. “I just… I just had to straighten my suit! Haha, yeah…” Now he proceeded to dust off his jacket some and tug at the collars and bottoms of it.

 

“…Right.” Obviously his superior human-scythe was nervous about something. Then again, so was Soul, so who was he to talk?

 

“Well, I’ll be going now!” Spirit answered, with squinted eyes and a hand in the air waving. His pace was slowed down as he tried to portray someone who wasn’t just embarrassed with a cool attitude like the young man that stood before him.

 

Soul couldn’t let him leave yet! He was on a mission and just found his golden opportunity in their privacy together to let it just pass by. “Wait! There’s something I wanted to ask you about!” He slipped his hand in his pocket and proceeded to pull out necklace, but as he did, he noticed it fell out of the white cloth in the process. Just as the jewel piece peeked out from the seam of his pocket and into the light though, he gasped. The single clear spot he’d found on it this morning had grown even larger, consuming nearly half of the jewel already! ‘ _It faded even more! I can’t ask him about this… he might think I did something to it!!_ ’ the weapon thought to himself frantically.

 

Just as Spirit stopped dead in his tracks before he could touch the door and turned around slowly to face him once more, Soul quickly slipped the faulty jewel back into his pocket before the red head could see that he’d even began to pull it out. Now Soul had to think of another question to ask him, so as not to look indecisive! “Uh… A-are you… are you going to meet us outside for training?? I mean… since you’re a scythe too?” _Perfect_! One of the best excuses he could have thought of! _A scythe training another fellow scythe_. It was a solution that made absolutely perfect sense.

 

“Uh… yeah, sure…” Spirit shrugged it off. “Best to go now, though. They’re probably waiting… Go on ahead, I’ll be another minute.” He stepped aside from the door, motioning for Soul to go on through.

 

 

“Oh… Alright then.” Soul blinked for a moment, wondering what would hold Spirit up longer, though. He’d already barged in on his privacy enough, though, so he simply accepted it and walked through. Before he let the door shut, though, he stopped to hold it open. “Don’t take too long. I need you out there!”

 

Spirit offered half a smile in return. ‘ _He needs me, huh? Not as much as he thinks he does…_ ’ With that, the door shut, and Soul made his way to meet his friends back on the outdoor court once more.


	26. Whole Again

Everybody stood amongst each other under the Nevada sun now, amped to aid in a recovery that was sure to hold itself a lot more successful than previously. Several conversational celebrations had already commenced between them as they were all gathered once more.

 

“I don’t imagine that remembering how to transform and fight together in resonation is going to be all that hard anymore since you’re regaining your memories here fairly quickly,” Kidd Began. Well… given, the spell had broken, but nobody actually knew about that, not even Soul himself. The Shinigami was actually smiling a little now, despite the rough time they had just the day before. He seemed quite eager to see what else Soul could learn, as easily as he’d become comfortable with the actual school itself again.

 

Black Star drove a strong punch into Soul’s shoulder. “Yesterday, you were all like, ‘ _WHO ARE YOU’_.” He inserted a rather idiotic looking face and flailed his arms in an in impression of stupidity as he spoke. “I should get you back for throwing me off like that!” The boy posed playfully for a friendly fight, his brilliant blue hair waving in the short gust of wind.

 

“C’mon, Black Star. How else was I supposed to react?? You jumped me, and I didn’t remember you yet!”

 

Liz interrupted their friendly argument, though, with a question he wasn’t quite sure how to answer. “Yeah, what happened anyway, Soul? You’ve come back so quickly, like magic or something.” Her eyes held a deep inquisition, a curiosity that Soul couldn’t avoid responding to as the rest of the crew sent their gaze his way as well. Oh yes… that odd magic barrier that apparently surrounded his soul, according to his skilled partner…

 

“I… I don’t know…” Soul hesitated. “I just woke up and everything started looking familiar again. I guess whatever caused it is wearing off.” There, a good generic answer that could be interpreted in any way! Oh, but how true it was… Least to his knowledge, it was only a matter of time when everything would ultimately tie in together.

 

Liz and Patty joined their pale hands, facing together with big wide grins. “Soul’s starting to remember again! Soul’s starting to remember again!” the sisters sang cheerfully in unison as they jumped around in circles. Everyone couldn’t help but to chuckle and smile at their energetic mood. It was nice to have a worry-free moment and talk like normal again.

 

“I say let’s party after this! Finally something good is happening!” Liz insisted, and jumped up one last time and throwing an arm up to fist pump the air.

 

Black Star joined in on the yell-fest. He threw both fists in the air now and shouted loud enough for the entire court to hear. “Yahoooooo! Paaarrrrtttyyyyyy!”

 

“Guys! Girls! Remember what happens to people who celebrate too early? There’s a lot to do yet! We don’t know when that _thing_ will strike again.” The obsessive-compulsive man only called it a thing right now, because in all honesty…. Nobody knew what it was! All they knew were the effects of its randomized tunes. Even by the time they arrived, it was always too late. Every individual would already be entrapped in its instructions, fulfilling its will as it pleased. Well, except for Soul. But this is why they were here, right? If his observations were correct, it routinely became active every two days as of late, and it’d only been since yesterday that its last motion had occurred. If this pattern remained true, then they only had tonight to bring Soul back up to par.

 

“Oh, alright, Kidd… you’re such a party pooper!” Liz complained, compliant to her meister anyway. The tall girl knew good and well he was just doing what he had to. Who else would be serious enough to keep them in line during times of need? Kidd was a leader, a Death God… a protector to their lands and people! And right now all of that was in danger!

 

“Let’s begin with transforming into your weapon form!” Kidd announced, commencing their second try at bringing Soul back to a knowledgeable enough state that he could help defend them. “Do you remember the directions from yesterday?”

 

Soul nodded quickly.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Soul didn’t remember the moment their souls connected. He and Maka did resonate, right? Or had he failed again? Had that mysterious barrier prevented her from entering his thoughts, stopped them from sharing the same existence to enhance their connection? Just before he could find the answer, though, something hit him. A force of something so recognizable, and yet so foreign at the same time, something unstoppable that blew his mind quicker than he could ever predict.

 

Memories… many more memories than he’d ever recalled before! He tried to make sense of it all when it started to give him an overwhelming sense, at first fascinating, but now seeming like too much, he couldn’t control it. Countless recollections of mental pictures, places he… no… _they’d_ been, the teasing he and Maka traded between each other, the numbers of books that’d fallen on his head as a result of them, enemies they’d defeated and left lying dead on the ground, the countless sacrifices he’d made for Maka…

 

It hit him with when they first met, hearing the first song he’d ever played for her when they shook hands in agreement to their pact for teamwork as though he could practically feel his long slender fingers sliding along the ivory and black keys. Then flashes of the countless number of kishins they’d encountered. That awkward night when Soul had to trick his meister to obtain a victory, and how it led the two to accidentally adopted Blaire.

 

And oh the fateful incident at the church where they encountered Chrona! Chrona… another cherished friend he’d forgotten before! Now he could practically feel the pain all over again and the texture of the lingering scar it left behind, remembering the drained feeling as he watched the blood leave his body just before blacking out. Additionally, the feeling of accomplishment when the weapon and meister had finally obtained a witch’s soul, Arachne’s to be exact, and finally achieved what they’d previously failed to strive time and time over before.

 

His whole life… his entire _real_ life was now in his mind’s grasp, and nothing felt more satisfying than finally understanding the life time they shared together that brought them standing here, today, in all the pride of their position in Shibusen. No, all that recital crap and luxurious theatres he thought he had to do was nothing compared to the solidity of this. Every question about his life vanished, filled in with an answer that left it all explained so well, he could have written a biography. Suddenly his life felt… right again, _whole_ again.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

  

_“Soul!”_

 

… That muffled voice….

 

_“Soul! Snap out of it!”_

 

Again… that voice… was that… Maka?

 

_“Wake up, Soul! Damn it, don’t leave me alone again!”_

 

Now it came a little clearer. “ _Soul! Please say something, anything!_ ”

 

He could feel her sturdy grasp on his shoulders as his senses returned once more.  To his awaking, Soul found himself on the ground while everyone else looked over him, an odd opposition to what occurred just yesterday! Wasn’t it everyone else who was supposed to pass out? As he blinked to syphon some of the sun’s brightness away until his eyes could adjust, he couldn’t help but to notice his meister’s jade eyes frantically seeking his attention and presence once more, wondering if he was mentally here at all. He could see that she’d wanted to cry, afraid something horrible had happened, afraid that she’d have to start all over again. Strange, at the same time, he could see a sense of confidence as well.

 

“W-what happened?” he managed, lifting himself halfway back up again. Maka offered a hand as she sat him securely once more. Tsubaki came behind him, putting a hand on his back in offer of support to lift him back up carefully.

 

Tsubaki answered, “Soul, you spaced out as soon as you two resonated! You wouldn’t let go of Maka or talk, and then… you just passed out! You really scared us! Are you okay??”

 

“Yeah, you had some kind of blue glow around you, but not the usual transforming kind,” Black Star commented. It was an odd observation, and somewhat blunt that Soul couldn’t imagine what it looked like, but from his blue haired buddy’s tone, it must have been something weird!

 

Kidd carried an odd confident smile about his face, though, the same confidence that Maka was showing, too, only hers was mixed with a little bit of fear too. “If it’s what I _suspect_ , then I think everything’s going to be fine now. How are you feeling now, Soul?” the Shinigami asked. Golden eyes pierced through Soul as though to peer into his very soul and heart. He could see the change in his the death scythe’s soul… what was once unnaturally brilliant red and sparking in resistance to penetration now settled back into its normal cool-azure shade. The Shinigami refrained from celebrating early, though. After all, who knew what other effects it could have led to?

 

Soul let their grasp go to sit on his own and looked around to make sure there weren’t any mysterious injuries. Strange, though, he could have sworn he was in weapon form before he supposedly spaced out. At least that’s how they started. He’d managed to transform perfectly on the first try. But he wasn’t sure who nudged who first when it came to their resonance. It seemed so mutually and naturally induced in a way that he almost had no idea it’d even happened at all. The moment they fell into their natural battle form, they’d followed instinct and something else took over entirely.

 

“I…” he started, hesitant what the Shinigami was expecting to hear. Soul turned his head to briefly observe everyone else hovering around him as well. He could feel their stares burrowing holes into him, each one probing in curiosity and concern, eager for a response to ensure he was really okay. “I’m very well now, actually. It’s like as soon as we resonated… it just _all_ came back at once…”

 

Gasps could be heard from Patty and Liz as their smiles slowly grew wider, hoping they’d assumed right. Their meister’s brows rose questioningly, quietly asking Soul if he’d actually just said what thought he’d heard. And Maka, she’d somehow become speechless, her hopeful soul probing her weapon in their silent communication they’d always practiced with each other, quietly asking in cautious hope if what she heard was really what he meant. This was one of the many smiles he missed from her!

 

Soul’s eyes locked back onto Maka’s, answering her inquisition. Suddenly the resolute in his voice was so clear, so sure of what had just happened. The expression of shock slowly shifted into an expression of joyous gratitude. “ _I… I finally remember everything again_ …” He could say no more, absorbing the overjoyed feeling of _truly_ knowing himself once more.


	27. From Fawn to Fight

“Soul?? Soul!” No answer. “SOUL!! You’re dinner’s going to get cold!” Maka scolded, shouting loud enough for her voice to reach beyond her partner’s shut bedroom door. After such transpiring events, he’d begged her to let him nap. Despite that she would have preferred him staying up and spending time with her now that he was completely back, it was ultimately recalling everything he’d gone through that convinced her to let him rest anyway. Really, the man just went through a lot of emotional stress, if not to still have a little more yet! The sudden recollection of his entire life in a matter of minutes left evident bags under his eyes. Who knew that remembering things could be so exhausting?

 

Maka couldn’t help but to chuckle though. The silence meant he had headphones on and fallen asleep to music, and the fact he had them on meant he would never wake up to her call alone. She sighed, maintaining the satisfied smile on her face. Oh how wonderful it felt to experience the minor joys that used to be careless agitation from her roommate! Of course, she was sure the bliss in that wouldn’t last forever and they’d eventually start their meaningless, but playful, bickering soon about the differences in their opinions of their habits.

 

For now, though, it was the best thing happening within their routine, the return to their normal familiar lifestyle! “ _Oh, Soul_ … welcome back home,” the girl said to herself as though he were right in front of her. Her hands were covered with oven mitts still as she clapped merrily to an invisible tune before taking them off and setting them on the kitchen counter. His return put a happy tune back into her day, or night as it was now. “Guess I’ll have to wake you up myself again.”

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

The duo was well settled in now, having eaten one of the best meals they’d had for weeks. It almost started to leave a sleepy “itis” feeling. For his recovery, Maka had cooked a very nice dish of fish fillets, fresh vegetables, and a desert of simple vanilla ice cream marbled in caramel. This was one of his favorites for as long as they’d known each other and lived together.

 

“I’ll do dishes tonight, then. It’ll give you time to fit in some reading if you’d like. I know you want to!” Soul said, starting their conversation back up after such a delightful dinner. He stood up and carried his plate to the counter, politely picking hers up along the way.

 

“What?” Maka blinked for a moment, not sure what to say. He didn’t usually volunteer for this when it wasn’t his turn! Then she remembered how tired he seemed to be. This was her treat to him, and now he was suggesting he pick some of it up upon himself? She stood straight and fixed her hands upon her hips as she spoke instructively. “Soul! No! _I_ cooked for _you_ tonight, and I want you to _relax_! So step away from that sink, mister!” If it didn’t mean the possibility of breaking a dish on accident, she might have even wrestled the china out of his hands.

 

 _‘Oh, no, no, no no,’_ Soul thought. She wasn’t going to bend his will tonight! Not now! She’d done so much for his night back home, his _real_ home. “It’s the least I can do, Maka, for making you worry about me all this while,” Soul insisted, not letting his meister peep a word of resistance as he tightly gripped the plate he currently in his hand out of her reach in the air. After she battled him for a few minutes (him laughing at her all along) and failed to drag his arm down so she could grab it from his hold, her jade eyes stared into his stubbornly. He gazed back confidently, reminding her, “Besides, wasn’t it _you_ who wanted to us to share the duties around here?”

 

“W-what…? Oh, don’t worry about it, Soul! You couldn’t help it, really.” By now, though, he already had the yellow rubber gloves on and dish water poured as he made dunk the dish in for washing. Maka puffed, her lips pouted and eyes narrowed in defeat, knowing his defense was somewhat inarguable. She sighed just before he turned around to gaze at her with a smile. “Fine! But you _HAVE_ to let me sit in here and talk to you while you do it!” A prize for a prize! Or so it was to her after all the days she spent alone here.

 

Soul Shrugged. Not that talking was necessarily a _prize_ per say, but it wasn’t exactly hurting anyone either. This… he knew she was talking about small chatter, about recalling the funny stories and things that’d happened to them. The man was okay with this. In fact, he was more than okay with this. It reminded him of their life and kept the memories he cherished fresh in his thoughts, like nothing had ever left his mind before at all.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Finally Soul dried the last plate after an unusually long off-and-on dish washing session heavily interrupted by chatter and founds its spot in the cabinets above. Every dish was now clean and neatly stacked in their designated spaces. One peep at the shelves and counters would have made anyone think that nobody even used the kitchen at all. As he carefully closed the small white painted door barely over his head, Maka grew quiet. All the laughing disappeared and her smile dropped to something neutral, something lost… “Do you think it’s going to get really bad tomorrow? Do you really think we can stop it alone?”

 

“ _Maka, Soul, I’m going to need you guys to stay resonated tomorrow as of the minute you get up… If this thing’s pattern is what I think it is, then we should expect an attack tomorrow_.” Before they left for home, the clique had agreed in unison to stay close together the next day, and by strict instructions, _all_ day. These thoughts rang through both their heads as they prepared to settle down for the night. Kidd’s words were of concern, and when he’d given the duo these instructions, he remained stern with them like the world depended on it.

 

Perhaps it was that the Shinigami wasn’t sure what it would cause them to do? Or maybe he wasn’t sure that it’d even strike at the same time as previously recorded? His worries lead to others questioning the next effects that would take place too. The thoughts were probably lingering in the rest of their friends’ minds too. Who knows if they were even going to try to sleep, Tsubaki, Black Star, Liz, Patty… If not, they needed to! No one could afford falling asleep in the middle of the day! The world needed every resisting body they could get to fend the very insanity of the people residing it. Well, if all went as planned…

 

Before their thoughts could get too deep into fear, Soul answered Maka’s worries with confident courage. “Of course. Haven’t we always found ways to conquer over things?”

 

“Well, yeah, but… this is on such a big scale. I’ve never seen any monster that could attack everyone at once like _that_. Much less make everyone lose control at the same time in such large numbers.”

 

“Sound can be covered. Sound can be masked. It can be changed in one way or another.” When his meister’s smile still remained too faint to be true, Soul came back with another positive thing they had to focus on. “At the very least, we’re still together, right?” Before she could answer, he let out a long yawn. She followed shortly. It appeared the “itis” had really started kicking in, especially given how emotionally draining their day had been.

With those very chances that the world could fall into peril tomorrow, the meister and death scythe decided to fall into their nightly slumber with a relaxing movie instead of alone in their separate beds. A close cuddle on the couch would ensure they stayed together in the case that events occurred earlier than expected (although, really it also secretly meant an opportunity to get close to each other again, unbeknownst to the other partner.) It was a traditional way for the two of rekindling the bond that aided them in fighting and communicating so well.  

 

Tonight he was leaned back against the arm rest of the couch, his tall thin frame stretched out barely over the other end, while she lay just a little over him, his arm wrapped around her shoulder in a hold, a near propped up version of the sweet heart’s cradle. And boy, did Maka relish it! It was moments like these that, despite its innocent intent, felt so intimate.  

 

Soul couldn’t deny enjoying how close they were, either, though. Despite knowing that he’d lived with this girl most of his life, it was like his feelings were fresh all over again, his affection and admiration for her willingness to him redeveloping back as he thought more and more about the times they shared together. The longer he thought on it, the more real it felt and the more genuine his feelings became. There was something about her beyond their experiences alone that intrigued him.

 

When they weren’t glancing at each other, though, they could both fell a warm tinge of a blush come over their cheeks. Who knew if this was the last moment they would be able to spare like this, so they didn’t complain. The intimacy of each other’s bodies touching so close that they could feel the head emitting was something so normal and yet it made Soul want to cling closer, and vice versa. Maka began to shift slightly in means to break the shy awkwardness by getting up, but as soon as she budged her shoulder up, she could hear her partner’s soft snores and feel his chest rise and fall a little slower. His head sank a little lower, and so now she he was definitely asleep.

 

Letting the movie continue on in their sleep anyway (because it was a very nice white noise at the moment), Maka leaned her head closer in on his chest, slung her arm across his torso as she lay atop of him and closed her eyes too.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Something was beating on him. Was it a fist? A weapon? Whichever it was, it began to stir Soul from his dream, a dream that now he’d completely forgotten what it was in his shift of focus. Now he could see that it was Maka… Maka! But she wasn’t necessarily completely awake either, so what kind of nightmare would leave her in this state, trying to rough him up? No, she’d never been known to sleep walk before!

 

Soul took a strong hold on her, grasping her shoulders and standing up along with her. Given, one wasn’t supposed to touch a person who was sleep walking, but damn it, he was going to eventually get pummeled at this point if he didn’t stop her! She let out a roar as he slammed her against the wall, holding her at his arms’ length distance so she couldn’t land a blow or reach for any object that could. “ _Maka_!! Snap out of it!!” he shouted.

 

When she didn’t he grumbled, unsure what to do other than knock her out with something. Glancing around the living room, Soul tried to scan for something he could use that wouldn’t injure his meister beyond that. But then his ruby eyes stopped when it found the window. Just outside, he could barely begin to hear more people rioting.   Outside their front doorway, he could hear more people shouting.

 

Wait, was this…. the kind of attacks Kidd was talking about?? The Shinigami had stated that the effects were random, and generally became more and more threatening. Yes, the last time something strange like this happened, everybody had fallen asleep at once! And now… now they were rioting, fighting against each other! Nasty offensive words, swinging of fists, needlessly happening at _three a.m_. at that, too… and yet again, he was the only one who didn’t seem affected as far as he could tell… A worried gaze turned back to his now violent roommate that was barely being contained in the distraction of his thoughts as her rage grew more and more… He had to do something, and quick, before humanity destroyed itself!


	28. Danger's Lullaby

The rioting had only started lightly, seeming like simple arguments, but now, as evident as the fighting meister he held against the wall, it began to turn more active. Strikes exchanged and voices grew louder and angrier. “YOU LET ME GO, SOUL EATER EVANS!” Maka shouted at him as she wailed her arms in hope to strike him as he kept her held against the apartment wall. Did she really just use his whole name?! Now this was _rage_ … judging from how everyone else was going through the same outside and on the hall ways (which, _thankfully_ their door was locked!) it was definitely one of those mysterious attacks Kidd acclaimed was from some odd sound waves. Why couldn’t he hear them, though, he wondered?

 

“Maka!!! MAKA!!” Soul screamed back, hoping to wake her up from it. Oh right…. Only _he_ was immune to it… He sighed desperately. No matter what words he used, actions he took, she wouldn’t relax and stop fighting. Unless… yes, perhaps that would work! Their resonance rang the strongest when they touched.

 

 _‘Please don’t hit me, please don’t hit me, please don’t hit me!’_ the man thought to himself as he thrust his body against hers on the wall, pulling her hands above her head and holding them against the surface with his own, fingers laced tightly to gain the most touch he could. Their faces were so close he could feel their warm breath mingle. He closed his eyes tightly and forced his lips on hers. In the moment of the one-sided intimacy, Soul could feel a warm blush come over his cheeks. Never mind the consequences or the red hue over his usually tan face. The point was that maybe this way he could reach beyond her soul. As their lips connected, Soul forced himself to focus on her he reached out to her soul.

 

A few impatient seconds later and balled fists dropped by her side as they resonated as one again. Soul jumped back and turned his head slightly, using an open palm to hide the shy red hue on his face. Now he really began to feel like he deserved to be hit. She wasn’t in her right mind, and he pushed it on her! But it worked, right?? That was the whole goal of it all when words alone wouldn’t work! Still… he was at a loss of words, unsure whether to apologize or not. Her fearful voice broke the silence, though, turning his full attention back to his partner.

 

“S-Soul….?” Her voice wavered. “Soul, what happened? I… I couldn’t…” She choked on her words and could no longer hold back the tears she’d kept in for minutes, days, weeks since the beginning of it all entirely. “I-I’m sorry! At first I thought I’d lost you! And then now, after I got you back, I just lost control and… and almost…” The girl dropped to the ground, letting her emotions loose.

 

“It’s okay, Maka!” he consoled. Kneeling down in front of her, he leaned forward and tightly wrapped his arms around her balled up body. His confirming words and their strong resonance assured her that he held nothing against her for what had just happened, attacking him against her own will. Although, there was something else, something he could suddenly hear… a very distorted tune now that wasn’t there before he resonated with her.

 

Remembering exactly how Kidd had described it, these sounded to be the odd sounds that made people, both meisters and weapons, do involuntary things. Yes, this sequence of notes was very agitating to listen to, jagged in pattern that would only irritate a person trying to decipher it. It also reminded Soul that there was more happening outside their small apartment, too. “Maka…” he started, pushing back to hold her shoulders, looking at her face to face, ruby eyes staring into jade ones. “The others, we have to save the others too!”

 

The girl nodded, her frown shifting into an expression of determination. “Any ideas in mind?”

 

“Perhaps if I could play something back…” Soul thought for a moment, trying to figure out what could possibly counter the aggravating make-shift of a song (that quite frankly wasn’t even a song at all) as he continued to listen to it intently through the bond of their souls. He knew what he needed to do. “Maka, I’m going to play something soothing, something to turn that horrible…. _song_ …. back around! I need you to use your soul perception to transmit it. ”

 

Again, she nodded firmly. “Got it!” Walking with her partner to their window, she slid it open and grasped his hand tightly. They didn’t peep a word down to the crowd below so they wouldn’t get pulled back down into the battle. She didn’t need to be told what to do. Their link said it all, their thoughts relaying to one another.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

As he stepped into the black and red tiled room, he could be seen adorned in the traditional black striped suit and red tie. Everything was as he expected it to be. Piano set and clean, the red velvet-lined chair, and the traditional phonograph that repeated the same jazz record every time it skipped. Really, why couldn’t he just throw the vinyl away, he wondered? The white-headed man heard the track a number enough of times here, too many to count.

 

“ _Welcome back Soul… I really missed you quite a bit. Did you miss me?_ ” Ugh, that voice… it was such a curse, and yet at the same time, right now it was a blessing as well, else this room wouldn’t be possible with a piano to play on. The petite demon stepped out into view from behind long crimson curtains.

 

“Shut up, Oni… you know why I’m here,” Soul snapped, no heart in his tone at all for this pest.

 

Waving a red hand in the air, the demon replied as though Soul had hurt his feelings. “ _Crabby today, are we? It’s almost like you hate me!_ ”

 

Soul bent down impatiently, now face to face with the short fellow. “Look, I’ve got a world to save. Are you going to cooperate or not?”

 

“ _Fine, fine… but you owe me a welcome-back party afterwards!_ ”

 

“I’ll think about it… ” Although Soul would never offer the pest any such opportunity. The demon born from black blood knew this as well, but it was also familiar with how boring the world would be if there was nobody left to rival, so the comment was bypassed, assured that one day he’d have the opportunity to let loose again, if not in today’s expectations.

 

_“No less, I’ve set the stage for you already... I do love a good performance!”_

 

Soul walked up to the grand piano and sat on the black leather-topped small stool in front of it. As he lifted the front to reveal the ivory keys, he couldn’t help but to run a hand lightly across them. It’d been so long since he had to use this… In fact, it’d been since their defeat over Asura. Rest assured, though, he hadn’t forgotten how to play!

 

First, he had to listen though! The off-key and off-beat tune of…. an _attack_ … odd as it sounded, was going to be a tough one to counter. It was strong enough that he wasn’t sure he could necessarily play _over_ it, given the span of souls they had to reach by themselves… but perhaps he could play _with_ it instead. The pianist needed something that could blend in, something that could change it and make it into something entirely different, something more soothing…  

 

Gathering the awkward pattern of the disturbing tune that riled everyone up, he placed his slender fingers on the keys and began. The small Oni’s eyes widened and he pulled long red fingers into his jagged-toothed mouth in excitement as he heard the melody that followed.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

She could hear the song in her mind, feel it in her heart as her partner played right from his soul into hers. This was the song people needed to hear. It was an odd song to hear if listened to alone, but when synced with the notes that brought the chaos, it blended into an entirely new melody. Together, it no longer sounded like something that would agitate a person, but rather, it lifted their spirits up, gave them a feeling of confidence, even… this was what would save the world from killing.

 

Closing her eyes, Maka focused on the souls outside their window and door. “Hear our song, hear our peace…” It wasn’t a great resonance with them like the two of them had with each other, but it was sent out enough so the vibes reached their souls, their very beings until she could feel every individual’s existence in Death City. Or so that seemed to be the limit of the destructive waves. With the combination of her ability to reach out and his ability to project those very signals with his piano, people began to stop in their steps, drop their weapons and tools of destruction, and gaze around at each other in questions on exactly why they were there at three in the morning, yawning and rubbing sleepy eyes into expressions of shock.

 

Now the song’s tempo slowed down, the other present destructive melody no longer playing along. “ _Just a little longer, Maka…_ ” Soul instructed his partner from his weapon form. “ _We can’t have these people waking up now in fear, or we’ll really have chaos on our hands._ ” She nodded in confirmation, still remaining focused on strengthening Soul’s musical signal to the city’s residents. The streets began to clear out now as Death City’s civilization proceeded to peacefully go back into their own homes once more to continue the rest that was disturbed so unexpectedly.  

Once Maka determined that everyone was in their beds and falling back fast asleep, hopefully to blame this all on bad dreams, the two slumped to the floor, leaned back to back. They’d done it, they’d saved Death City! Soul sweat beads down his face and repeatedly clenched his fist as he attempted to regain his complete sanity after borrowing power from the little Oni, and Maka’s breath fell heavy in the exhaustion of having reached to so many souls at once.

 

This was nothing like when they united to locate Chrona on the moon. It was a just a passing, a temporary cover up, a small moment’s taste of what this could do if it spread any further. If they really wanted to be save and save Death City from this thing, they’d need more power than that…


	29. Guilty Company

Golden eyes drilled holes into the door as he began to question why Soul and Maka hadn’t answered yet. It was seven a.m. Certainly they were up, right? At least by this point, having given it a second chance, Maka would have answered, knowing they had duty or school attendance to prepare for. Normally, Kidd wouldn’t have bothered them so early, but something happened and he had to know what it was! Now he knocked louder than he’d ever knocked before, disgracefully and full of urgency. Really, what were the two doing on the emergency status this place was in?

 

He raised his curled hand to knock a fourth time, but before he could, Maka appeared before the entryway, creaking the door slowly. The look on her face was utterly pitiful. Exhaustion left bags under her blood shot eyes and stooped  her posture low with arms that hung lazily by her sides. “Oh… Kidd…”

 

Now peering behind her was Soul, equally tired in his appearance with his white hair ruffled in a horrible mess. “Oh… So sorry to intrude this early.” His red eyes scanned his friend, then shifted over to the individual right beside him, just beyond the door frame enough. If Soul hadn’t looked intentionally beyond the frame, the weapon wouldn’t have even noticed him at all.

 

It was second nature for Soul to check the entirety of his surroundings, given his protective nature towards his meister. There were moments when, if he hadn’t been so attentive, the two would have never noticed smaller details in their missions that could have killed them on multiple occasions. Getting injured near death early on – more specifically their first encounter with Chrona- had natural effects like that.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Before Soul could get any words out of his mouth to greet the two, though, something unexpected came to him last minute, something that he didn’t remember as a part of his life but rather moments of Spirit’s… He could tell by the voice, the suit, and that crossed tie… images of Spirit sitting at a bar, the man desperately drunk out of his mind, with a nameless young woman in bright pink hair beside him that carried no familiarity in their lives at all.

 

Yes, now it all began to replay in his mind, placing the missing pieces of the puzzle that never seemed to make any sense or explain themselves before. Conversations that’d been spoken, conversations between Spirit and the mysterious girl that Spirit hadn’t shared with anybody else.  

 

 _“Yeah… it’s that idiot weapon of hers. He swore he’d never touch her!”_ he’d heard Spirit spit out in hatred.

_“You know… it doesn’t have to be like that.”_ What is up with her suspicious expression? She appeared to be a witch, but weren’t their quarrels with them over? _“What if you could make him forget overall that he was in love?”_

The bar disappeared and turned into a scene where he could see a note in Mr. Albarn’s hand, blue eyes scanning it nervously. _“One strand of each their hair should do, no more, no less. Meet me back here in one week, same time, same spot. Remember this well and burn this note as soon as you finish reading it.”_ He watched as the images continued to pour into his head like a secret untold story. And that day in the park… when he’d crept up on them in their alone time! The single pricks that felt like someone had snagged the hair on their heads… this was Spirit gathering the ‘ingredients’!

 

Flashing forward to the last thing he’d envision before he returned to reality, the odd bright-haired woman was now handing Spirit something very familiar… Soul gasped, recognizing it. The ruby jeweled necklace! She warned the father before carefully laying into his palms, ‘ _Should Soul touch this, he’ll remember everything he forgot, and know exactly who did it and why._ ’ And that he was, the last missing pieces of the mystery to his amnesia making more sense than it ever had before.

 

This… this is why he’d forgotten who he was, and why he’d regained it all back?! This was why Spirit didn’t want anyone to know about the necklace?! And this... it was the reason it’d lost its once-solid vibrant blue shade shortly after Spirit returned it to him! He’d have quivered in anger as the revelation of Spirit’s desire to set them apart in his own selfish desires revealed itself if he hadn’t suddenly heard his meister shouting, bringing him back to reality.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

“Soul! Are you okay?!” The blonde girl was down at Soul’s feet, picking up pieces of a shattered mug, the one he’d been sipping from just a moment ago when he walked up behind Maka to see who’d knocked. Once-dry socks were now soaked and surrounded with sprinkles of water spread about the carpet. Kidd’s eyes widened as he attempted to apologize, but Soul cut him off.

 

 

“Y-yeah, don’t worry about it. It wasn’t your fault. I was just tired, that’s it…” Soul replied, stepping back, kneeling down to pick up ceramic shards along with Maka. They gathered the pieces and stood back up to set the pieces on a mantle, then turned face their company again. “And what is _he_ doing here?” Soul continued, narrowing almost malicious eyes towards Spirit, but returning to his lazy gaze before other company could notice.

 

He needed not for Maka to know. Her equivalent resentment would have easily distracted her from what they needed to do to ensure the success of their current mission. She wouldn’t have been able to concentrate, would have developed even more hatred for her father and reluctance to work alongside him more than when they first met. For this, he hid the violent wave of emotion from her detection.

 

Kidd merely shrugged, with a simple, “worried, of course. You know how he is.” Heh, this was just like Spirit, tagging along just to make sure his little girl was safe. The father had reason to worry as far as Kidd was concerned. As long as he wasn’t coming _into_ their house uninvited, the visit was harmless.

 

“Yeah, we do…” Soul answered, his tone flat masking the displeasure. Spirit retracted for a moment, silently wishing Soul hadn’t followed his daughter to the door. No… he had to act normal! Acts like this would give away his guilt, so he straightened back up and followed inside as well. As he barely passed by Maka, the red head couldn’t avoid doing it! “Oh, Maka, I’m so glad to see you’re okay!” The man leaned into the entrance, halfway into their apartment to grasp his daughter in a tight hug, but her elbow coincidently found a way into his chest as she raised her hand to cover a yawn.

 

“Oh, _glorious day_ how good it feels to see a room with no holes! I simply don’t think I could go home until it’s fixed again!” Kid interjected, breaking the awkward silence as the piled into the living room and took an exhausted seat. Everyone turned to look at him with a questioning expression. His golden eyes watered as if it were the most beautiful site ever, scanning every clean wall, despite that their decorations weren’t as symmetrical as he’d have set it.

Maka stared at the Death God, amazed to hear such a compliment. “Do you want to come in??” she asked with a sigh. With this suddenly unexpected admiration of their asymmetrical living room, everyone was now invited inside. Before sitting, Kidd had begged Maka to allow him to redecorate as well, but his request was answered in unison from the famous weapon-meister team with a rather insistent and loud “ _No_!”

 

Now they were sat. Kidd could see it in the duo’s tired eyes and the worried expressions they carried when he asked about the violent occurrence.

 

“We’ve been up since three. Y’know… just in case it happened again.” Soul answered. Kidd was more than understanding, though, tolerating their unintentional threats to fall asleep right there on the couch in the presence of their company. They didn’t stay up without valid reason. They witnessed something disturbing enough to make them question everyone’s safety in their slumber. They resisted sleep in selfless intent to watch over to ensure whatever happened wouldn’t occur again. They’d exhausted themselves in whatever effort they had to put forth when it struck. And now they likely had more valuable information than anybody had been able to gather since the beginning.

 

“We can’t do it alone, Kidd, not again… It may have worked this time, but it really took a _lot_ of our energy to send out a signal that strong. I almost lost my _sanity_ working with that little demon on that high of a level.” Soul gazed over his shoulder toward his meister. Of course, Maka had already fallen asleep, so he continued in her stead, locking eyes back on the Shinigami. “We’re going to need everybody; Stein, you, _anybody_ who can reach out to the souls of this city. And strength to attack this thing.”

 

“Of course we will, Soul. We’ll gather everyone today and continue this discussion so everybody will be on par with another. However, if you don’t mind me interrupting, where’s your washroom?”

 

Upon Kidd’s question, Soul gladly directed him towards it, pointing to the hall. Just as the door shut, though, Soul quickly stuck his head over and shot out, “ _AND DON’T RE-ARRANGE EVERYTHING EITHER_!” Tiredly laughing to himself, he turned to face back forward, letting him sink into the soft leather with an exasperated sigh.

 

Spirit cleared his throat and he sat up straighter, attempting to look more confident. It wasn’t fooling him, though. It wasn’t even fooling his self. Now red eyes snapped over to meet blue ones. The red head knew very well what Soul’s now more directed and unbroken glare in their moment of isolation meant. It meant he’d screwed up, and this war against the unknown was the price of it all. It meant that if he didn’t help defend Death City, he’d be even more of a coward than he already was.


	30. Goodnight and Good Fight

Once everyone woke up and gathered at the school, they’d agree to meet back at Shibusen’s large meeting room again, the one they’d sat in when they discussed Soul’s disappearance. If for any reason something happened on the way as well, they’d at least be together in central existence of their fellow weapons and meisters for quick saving. On their way, each heard different sets of students talking about horrible dreams, discovering cuts they didn’t realize they had, and complained of feeling groggy, describing it as a day where ‘everyone was just tired’ as though it were something in the air.

 

“So we all just started fighting each other for no reason, huh?” Liz asked, intrigued, sorely eying the broken nail she’d acquired overnight. She and her blonde sister glanced at each other, one black eye meeting another. “I have to say, sis, you pack a tighter punch than I thought!”

 

Patty beamed with a wide grin, raising her posture proudly. “That’ll teach ya not to hit me!” Really, the density was unbearable sometimes, if density was even what it was. Maybe it was just that continuous positive outlook she always had, even in situations like this, a way to stay sane in the midst of the unknown. Either way, the short girl was still proud of her accomplishment.

 

“Hey, it wasn’t my fault! It was that stupid thing that keeps doing things to us!” Covering the disgusting dark mark on her face was of the most concern as she raised a palm over the darkened eyelids and back down, comparing each appearance in a pocket mirror she pulled out onto the table. Liz worried on about how much make up it was going to take to cover the imperfection. “Now how am I going to fix my make up?! It hurts to touch…” she whined.

 

Kidd cleared his throat to gather the sister’s attention. In any other situation, this small usual bickering would have been entertaining, but too much was on his mind. “Ladies! My mansion is torn to pieces. People nearly killed each other, and now it could happen again at _any_ given time…” That’s right… these were _his_ people getting hurt… _his_ people in danger… _his_ people to protect as the Shinigami that he was. When everyone stopped to turn their hands and look at him, he continued, “Soul, what did you gather from it when it began?”

 

Right, only Soul would know the most about it in his immunity as he watched everyone else react. “Honestly, I couldn’t hear it until I resonated with Maka, but from what I could tell in that short time we countered it, it sounded like it was coming from the East more than anything. The notes, they were… disturbing.” From the off look on his face, he was definitely displeased with the tune it had, recalling it as he slouched down in his chair with folded arms and stared ahead, lost in thought.

 

“The best chance we have at stopping this thing is finding it and attacking it before it can reach us,” Stein interjected with the obvious. “That, and we’re going to need the protection of Soul’s immunity. Another counteractive action on that scale though…” Grey eyes narrowed, calculating the number of heads in Death City, unfortunately one of them, possibly one of the most important in his heart, being his and Marie’s daughter.

 

What Soul and Maka did previously had left the two exhausted, their resources being tapped in more than it ever had before to cover the entire population. It was only by the grace of luck that they lasted as long as they did without going insane or falling out. Guarantee was there that they’d have to protect the city again, too…

 

“What if...” Maka began, attempting to think her suggestion thoroughly. Jade eyes met red ones as they read the same thoughts together in the continuous resonation that was demanded of them. Soul nodded in confirmation, so she turned to look back towards Kidd, now more confident in her words. “With the help of all of you touching everyone’s souls, surely we should be able to broaden the range of our sound so can reach faster, right? Then we could simply go lower-key to distract it while you face it head on. Surely it can’t pay attention to both at the same time, and our resources wouldn’t get so exhausted!”

 

A smile tugged at Kidd’s lips. It sounded practical enough, better than doing nothing at all, waiting for whatever this was to finish its maneuver. Already they’d gone through a cycle of various emotions, minor actions, and near self-annihilation. What could potentially happen next? With this, he requested a notion of votes and everyone voted unanimously, now resonating to Soul and Maka’s link. A discussion was finished and the plan of action was mapped!

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

 

 

Spirit gazed first at his daughter. It was obvious Soul had figured out what he did, and quite frankly, he was surprised the information hadn’t revealed to the weapon any earlier than so. This was one of the things he feared most about having given Soul his memories back to him, the fact that he’d know the mistake the father committed and potentially hold it over his head in the form of his daughter’s hatred. But when Spirit’s eyes caught hers, she sent him a genuine smile, despite the trouble brewing outside their knowledge. So Soul hadn’t told her after all…

 

Now the red head turned his eyes towards Maka’s right, towards Soul’s. When theirs met, though, the reaction was entirely different. There was no smile, not even a scowl, but he could still see it in his blood-red eyes. It was a shot of disappointment, as if he were a criminal who’d killed a child, no definitive feeling to decipher. Spirit may as well have been just an inanimate object with this kind of gaze. Instantly, the younger weapon snapped his head back around and turned his attention away without a word.

 

Spirit watched the two walk into the guest bedroom that’d been allocated to them. The plan was that all their key players would temporarily reside in Kidd’s mansion for easy contact. The easier they could connect in a multiple resonation, the quicker they could save themselves. The sooner they were all safe among themselves, the sooner they could save others. It was just how it had to be until they found and defeated the enemy they’d never even seen yet.

 

“Goodnight, Papa!” Maka called out with a wave of her hand just before she and her albino partner shut the door behind them.

 

The man sighed as they disappeared and shut the door behind to get some very-needed sleep. He’d tried to open his mouth to say goodnight back before they were out of his sight, but Soul’s cold shoulder stole more of his attention. His words became frozen, incapable of escaping into an audible sound. Or perhaps it was the anxiety that the boy might tell her, and she would wake with an entirely different attitude for him than she carried now. Why, of all times, _now_ , when their father-daughter relationship had grown so well? He should have said something, anything, in return!

 

Entering his own room, ironically right beside _theirs_ , he shut his own door too. The bedroom really was quite nice. If anything, Kidd’s OCD paid off in the form of a nice abode to sleep in, as well as a clean one. Not a single thing looked out of place, and if he didn’t know any better, he’d have moved something that would have thrown Kidd in a fit.

 

Dressed in something comfortable, namely a pair of soft blue pants and t-shirt with a skull symbol on it, he slid himself in bed. His eyes caught the wall that separated him from his daughter and her partner. Reaching a hand out towards the wall as if to brush her, should she be right there, he answered in a soft, caring voice, “Goodnight, Maka… may tomorrow bring better luck.”


	31. Cries For Help

The boy stood up to leave them comfortably be, but before he could get more than a few feet away, he heard a thud and a crash by the doorway of the large room. In blind panic, he rushed to the source. Before his golden eyes was Black Star grinning, on the ground, and surrounded by ceramic shards. “My beautiful vase!” he cried out. Rushing to the floor to pick two larger pieces, one in each hand, his voice quivering. “It’s… it’s broken!!”

 

“Uhhh, yeah?” Black Star answered nearly heartlessly. Then he reminded himself he wasn’t in his own home where the ever patient Tsubaki didn’t fret. “Sorry, dude… but man’s gotta get exercise around here! Keepin’ me all cooped up! I’ll get you another one, simple as that!”

 

Still Kidd cried in the mess of the sharp pieces and dust. “Another one!? Where am I going to find another one to match it?? My elegant exclusive piece… all alone! I’ll never find another one like this!” Then he gasped. Alone! The other vase on the other side of the door! “I can’t keep this one up here, either then! It’s not even! It’s horrible! A wreck!”

 

Rushing over the pile and dropping the two pieces he’d picked up, the Shinigami went to the other one, removing it off the stand. But now they looked too empty, and the height didn’t match the rest of the even appearance of the rest of the room! The boy proceeded to remove matching objects from the opposite side of the loft, measuring the height as he bent down and eyed it from angle to angle.

 

Stein, who’d found a lofty spot on the floor, chuckled, pulling his daughter (who was of three years old now) back towards him, as not to get trampled. The small girl clinged to her father gingerly, big brunette eyes shining with curiosity as they followed the man struggling from one side to the other repetitively. Anna was her name. She proceeded to laugh merrily as Death the Kidd nearly tripped halfway again, her silver hair swaying as she swung about in his arms.

 

After several trips across the room, two large, round marble balls finally offered satisfaction. Originally, they were book ends, but the row of books were easily re-arranged to make him happy. With a heavy sigh of relief, Kidd turned to scold the blue haired ninja, but Anna’s sudden high pitched cries came out of nowhere. Everyone turned their heads so quickly to the sharp shrill from her lungs. Anna had knelt to the ground, curled up while holding palms as close to her ears as she could.

 

“Annie!” Marie cried out, kneeling by the girl as well as she could, considering her once-again swollen belly. “What’s wrong?!” The woman brought the girl close to her chest, holding her tight as she could. “Annie, it’s okay! It’s okay!! Mommy’s here!” When the child didn’t stop screaming after the attempts to sooth her, though, the mother looked up at Kidd, worried eyes now on the verge of brimming with tears. (Normally Marie could have withstood the concern as an adjusted parent, but hormones played their way quite well recently.)

 

The rest of the room fell silent as they began to hear it too… a melody, a rather inconsistently mixed one that could give migraines. It began soft in volume, barely audible, but as they grew more attentive to its existence, it began to increase in volume. It was only by natural senses that the child seemed to hear it first with her youth. Just outside the window of Kidd’s lounge, other people’s lights could be seen turning on, like the entire town was slowly getting pulled awake.

 

“Is that…” Tsubaki began shakily, afraid to finish her suspicious guess.

 

Kid nodded. “I’d suspected as much! After we, no, _they_ were able to stop it once, I’m not shocked it’s coming back with a vengence…” It seemed the notion to keep them all resonated was a good choice after all, else they would have likely been covering their ears too. Even if she did recognize when someone was reaching out to hers, the link would have been easily distracted. Things like this didn’t come easy and took great focus.

 

 

Kidd hastily made his way to where Soul and Maka were snoozing, shaking them quickly as he shouted their names to stir them up again. This time, though, Soul did fall off the couch. He rubbed his head where it’d thudded against the ground, his white hair fluffed up a little.

 

Maka, on the other hand, slowly rose up, pushing herself up with one hand on the dark cusion into a sitting position while covering her yawn with the other. “Wha… Soul?” the meister asked as she twisted around to look on the floor. “Soul, are you okay?!” she frantically asked.

 

“Y-Yeah” He simply nodded in return. When he stood back up, though, a gasp escaped his mouth and his eyes widened in surprise. “Wait, Maka… do you hear that?”

 

Then that’s when Anna’s cries came back even stronger. Suddenly, Anna fell over in Marie’s arms and her screams ceased as she fell unconscious. “Annie!! Annie!!” Marie shouted, desperate to see her girl’s hazel eyes open again. Joining her was Stein, kneeling by his wife’s side, pale green eyes filled with worry. He didn’t have to speak for them to know how concerned he was. The silence and focus on the three year old itself said it all.


	32. One Last Melody Before War

Maka and Soul held hands as they shifted their focus. Maka’s eyes remained open as she stayed aware of everyone standing around them. Meanwhile, Soul closed his in attempt to draw out the little creature he dreaded so much. 

As Soul stepped into the dark room inside his soul, his attire changed into that of his striped suit. Two by two, the stilted lights lit up, guiding his path to the instrument of his soul. Now he was close enough he could touch the grand piano. Its shining coat reflected the determined look in his expression on his face just before he lifted the panel that protected the ivory keys. What melody would he have to counteract this time? Stopping to listen to the invading tune playing in their minds, he put together an ideal string of notes that could blend into something less destructive and more pleasant.

‘How boring, this is all you need me for? Quite boring, really,’ the demon interrupted. ‘Why not enjoy the chaos, play along with it?’

Soul decided to strike the demon back with a truth it wouldn’t enjoy hearing. ‘Shut up, Oni… That’s what I’m already doing! Or there won’t be anyone else later. How would you like to be the only thing living on Earth? Surely you can’t challenge anyone then!’ This was nothing compared to the bore that a lifeless planet would be, a perfect excuse to force him to work together. 

Maka could hear the argument going on inside the room, but didn’t let her image enter, or else she might lose track of what was happening outside that room. Her partner already knew what to say anyway. It was his soul, after all. 

Now that Oni had been pleased enough with the intent, Soul turned his attention to his meister, speaking only through their link. “Maka, as soon as I start playing, tell everyone to reach out to the city’s souls. We need everyone who can see them as possible.” This would lessen the power they had to use before, a thought that Soul didn’t need to tell Maka for her to know. It’d all been mapped out, and everyone knew their roles. They just needed the signal. 

Placing his fingers on the keys now, he shifted his entire focus on the current distracting tune. Bliss was what these people needed. They needed their thoughts relaxed, taken away from what they were hearing now. And so he began to play…

Outside the weapon’s mind, his comrades could hear the difference in the song as well. What was once a random garble of sounds began to sound happier, but in a soft way. It was uplifting, yet there were no harsh notes to jar the already pounding heads others outside that room were gaining. No, now they heard gentle ones, ones that could be made sense of. 

Annie’s restless state began to calm down too. Instead of shifting and jolting around in Marie’s lap, the child’s motions settled down and eventually let down into a soothing sleep. The mother could tell by the girl’s breath, the girl’s expression. She’d watched her fall asleep many nights to recognize it well. This calmed her down as she held her daughter close, happy to not have lost her. If Stein hadn’t been occupied reaching the souls of Death City with Soul and Maka’s new song, he’d have held his little girl too. Anna really was more important in his life than he showed. 

 

Now that the town’s lights began to turn off and the shrills outside had calmed down. The unseen monster outside ceased its musical garble, if music was what it could even be called. It was more like a string of unmatched pitches. Making something like that into something people could enjoy was no easy feat. Soul and Maka smiled in their accomplishment, waking up from their act to see their friends cheering. Seems staying united with their other soul-seeing friends had given more of a boost than they predicted! 

Patty was running around the room high-fiving everyone, jumping to reach the taller ones. “We did it!!” the optimistic woman exclaimed. 

Soul’s eyes scanned around the room, seeing happy meisters and weapons celebrate and smile on their brief victory. Black Star was horsing around with Tsubaki, whom was just trying to prevent him from breaking something else. Stein had returned to his little family, giving Marie one of the most grateful hugs he could as they watched their little one rest. Kidd was catching a breath of relief, lost in thought. Patty was running around the room high-fiving everyone, jumping to reach the taller hands. 

And Spirit… as soon as Soul’s red eyes met spirits blue ones across the room, the albino abruptly broke the entire resonation off. It was a long-distance cold shoulder, an aura of resentment that he’d never seen from Soul before. It’d gone with little attention from the others while they celebrated and chattered away, but Spirit was actually kind of grateful for this. The tension between their gaze, like arrows lit on fire, piercing his heart… time briefly stood still for the both of them. 

Aware of how giving away his spirit had been of the current grief, the father began to lift himself out of the chair he was sitting in. However, as soon as he noticed Soul’s eyes narrow a bit, the red-head panicked and let himself fall back down into it. The man sighed in a false contentment that could pass as thankfulness for their overcoming tonight, not wanting to expose the worry of the wrath being sent his way. If anybody asked, he could just say he was letting loose from earlier and that the fear had kept him up all night, leaving him beat out. (Well, even though the last half was true.) 

The cold stares sent his way by the person he’d cursed kept him from attempting to get close, recalling every inkling and idea of what Soul might have wanted to do to him for it. He’d refrained from calling their house in the brief time they had before standing together with everyone here, all in worry that it would be Soul who picked up. The one time that he’d actually dialed the number, the man hung up after the first ring. ‘At least go say something to Maka!’ he chastised to himself. 

However, Patty jumped out in front of him, breaking his deep concentration on the bothersome thought, making him jump in the seat. “Perk up, Deathscythe! We’re safe again!” she exclaimed optimistically.

“Yeah, we’re not gonna lose over one little monster!” Liz answered in return.

However, while others were grinning ear to ear, Maka had very well noticed the release of their resonation. She strode over to where Soul stood by the window, gazing out into the town below. “Soul… Are you okay?” Was he struggling with his black blood again like the last time they’d done this, she worried? Her soul prodded to meet with his, knowing well he wasn’t going to spill what was bothering him right here in front of everyone. 

Recognizing her pull to connect again, Soul accepted. He gave her a half smile to assure he was doing fine. But then he dove straight into her thoughts. “Maka… We need to draw this thing out, before it does anything else.”

“How, though, when we don’t know where it is? Its soul seems to be un-trackable, somehow…”

“I do… I tracked its direction while it was playing…” 

Maka gasped at the revelation. That’s right! He was the one with the abilities to work with sound… Surely this enabled him to pinpoint the source of it too. Why had she not thought of this earlier!? This entire time, she’d been focused on just saving the town’s people, it’d completely passed her mind. It was definitely like her partner to notice the smaller things. 

“Maka… We’ve got to face this thing. It’s too close by. I’m going to tell it to show itself.” 

Before they could finish their conversation, though, Kidd popped up in front of them. They both peeled their eyes away from each other and towards the Shinigami. He carried the same concerned expression, despite the relief earlier. Had he read their minds, they wondered? “Soul, Maka… Do you have any ideas how we can take care of this once and for all?”

“Already on it!” Maka stated confidently. “I hope you’re prepared for another battle, because we’re not letting this thing attack us again.”

Kidd smiled. His accomplices were good ones, trustworthy ones…


	33. An Eye for an Eye

“Here it is.” Soul stated as they stood the edge of a slightly wooded area outside of Death City before the reveal of the dry lands around it. Everyone glanced around, trying to note a witch, a kishin, _anything_ that stood out. It was evening, when the sun just began to fall. He may have detected the sounds from this area, but it’d been difficult to know exactly where it was in here with all the hiding spots behind trunks and heaps of drying leaves.

 

Their fellow weapons remained in their metal forms, ready to defend. Soul and Maka behind everyone, while the others stood in front ready for the frontline. Save for Marie, who’d been told to stay home with Annie considering her condition. Instead, Stein would wield Spirit in replacement. They were just as good of a team. The entire way there, Soul still hadn’t said a word to Spirit and refused any constant eye contact, and it left the poor man wondering when Soul was going to break loose on him and let all the spite out he’d held within the whole time.  

 

Soul broke the worrisome thoughts though, as he announced the initial beginning of the moment everyone had waited for. “I’m going to draw this thing out now and distract it, and when I do...” Maka could hear the hesitation in her partner’s voice. What was so nerve-taking that he’d be so anxious to do? Then resolution took back over as he spoke again. “I’m going to need _you_ guys to take it out. We’re not letting it harm _anyone_ else again!”

 

With a smile that this would finally be over, Kidd answered, “Of course!” With hands on the sisters’ twin gun forms, he drew them out.

 

“Let’s do this! This monster will be _nothing_ compared against us!” Black Star’s confident voice spoke up.

 

If all went well, Soul and Maka wouldn’t have to exert their energy resonating with the entire group. Their attacker would be distracted by Soul’s own combative tunes and weakened according to the Deathscythe. While it couldn’t do what it had before, it’d be vulnerable to the remaining blades and guns. Sure, it probably had alternative methods of harming, but it’d already shown its prized card attack, now to be rendered useless

 

Then the piano keys began…

 

Suddenly a defiled, piercing screech could be heard close by on their right, much closer than they’d depicted, forcing the crew to cover their ears best they could from the break of silence. A rustle in some bushes nearby revealed a rather disfigured looking individual. Surrounding its seemingly human-like body appeared to be fairly large looking pores, pores meant to open as they vibrated in and out with its struggles with the distraction. The wavering holes almost seemed like they were trying to shut out whatever song Soul’s piano was emanating. It’d thrown the creature into a state of disarray, unable to focus as it crashed from tree to tree, slowly stumbling its way left and right closer to the pair it was hearing the song from.

 

Maka snapped awake from her fixated trance on their resonance. She could see its scraggly body twisting and turning it its bothered state. It was obvious it couldn’t react with its sound-like attacks anymore. It’d weakened in its distraction of Soul’s melody. It had revealed itself just as he declared he’d make it do and it’s speaker-like pores hurt.

 

Glaring up angrily, its void black eyes stared menacingly at Maka and her weapon partner.   It ran towards them, destined to stop the song it so hated. Before it could reach him, though, a blade cut across its torso, delicately slicing the first layer of skin and forcing it to sling to the side and catch itself on a tree trunk to avoid further piercing.

 

“AH HA HA HA HA! Not today, sucker! You’re gonna have to get through US first!” Black Star’s confident voice interrupted. Now the blue haired ninja swung more. Tsubaki’s blade danced around the monster’s body as their enemy bent unnaturally to avoid another wound. Was this thing made of rubber?!

 

It jumped over Tsubaki’s blade, landing against a tree trunk and ricocheted off the wood, jumping further back in front of Black Star. Now Stein grinned like a mad man, wielding Spirits dark form, spinning about around it. The curve of spirits blade caught around it and gave a crescent slash around its torso. In turn, it grabbed the sharp end of its metal form, ignoring the cut it gave on its hand, and tossed Stein. The professor wasn’t slung hard enough to fall, though, and found a well enough landing on his feet, dust leading the trail dust from the dirt in front.

 

“Maka… you have to play, too.” Soul said. He knew his meister was familiar with what he was referring to. “I’ll give you the notes you need.” This was easy to do in their close connection. He could easily guide her hands, and she’d easily know when she was on the right ones when he did. It was a gut feeling that they followed when they were linked, a feeling that never let them down.

 

She nodded in response, letting the power of the black blood resonate within her, too. Her attire changed in a wave to the black dress she’d worn when they faced against Asura. Along with the change, the scythe she held in her hands also shifted, revealing a long set of pearl and black keys. _Of course! This_ this was the most intense way to deliver the notes he needed to send! The vibrations would ride directly against its body!  

 

 

Between the two blades and the trails of Liz and Patty’s shots, it was forced into dodging more than it’d anticipated. It was a dance in the air that prevented it from pursuing Soul and Maka as it had originally intended.

 

“Kidd!” Maka shouted, leading her way through the air quickly towards the monster. The Shinigami nodded. Stein swung Spirit one last time, swinging it towards the musical duo like a baseball.

 

As soon as Soul’s sound-filled blade swept across its chest, it stopped in midair, its body shaking in the vibrations of the song they played in unison, her on the blade and him on the piano within the black room. The shock of the tune dropped its ugly wrinkled skin of a body to the ground. The song had shocked it too much and it could no longer anticipate another move as it shook on the ground, bug eyed.

 

The Death God walked towards the creature and pointed his twin guns down towards it though, inches away from its skin. It’d grown weak from whatever they did, and couldn’t fight back anymore in a pain too great to get back up. “You’ll hurt my people no more!” Kidd exclaimed, ready to pull the triggers. “Good bye…” With two shots from each sister, the creature died, its body disintegrating into thin air as it left behind its soul.

Before everyone could begin to celebrate, though, something else caught their attention. Abruptly, Soul fell out of his weapon form, hanging an arm around Maka’s neck to catch himself before he fell completely. His breath was heavy and his face was covered in a thin layer of sweat as though he’d suddenly become ill.

 

“Soul?! Are you okay?!” Maka asked frantically, pulling him up. It had become apparent that he’d been weakened too, unable to fight any longer. It was as if he and the creature had fallen into the same state, only he wasn’t getting a bullet or two in his head. If she hadn’t supported him, Soul would have fallen straight to the ground.

 

“Your little friend risked it all there, I see. _Brave_ for someone who’s been _betrayed_ …” a voice spoke from above. A figure sat on one of the tree branches up high, her legs crossed as they hung.

 

Wait… that voice… it sounded like one Spirit had heard before! The red head gasped, shifting back into his human form and throwing his head up to see who it was. The brilliant pink hair… the skin-tight black dress… knee-high black boots adorned in lace… He’d become speechless. ‘ _The bar… the spell…_ ’ he thought to himself. ‘ _It’d been her behind this all along?! I’m such an idiot!! And now she’s going to reveal me for what I did._ ’

 

“Oh well, I supposed _somebody’s_ going to eventually find out anyway!” She spoke with such confidence. Everyone looked around among each other in question. What was she talking about, most wondered?

 

Spirit knew, though. He’d just pretended to look around in confusion to mask his guilt, averting from looking directly into her eyes. Sure, they might find out, and eventually he’d have to pay for his choice more than he already had, but right now, their lives were in danger. The witch’s grin grew wider, though, and she interrupted his worried thoughts. “Now that I have you all here in a little group, though, I can just kill you off in one go. Or perhaps I should just tell everyone anyway!” With the knowledge she had, this witch had free reign to ruin it all for him earlier than he’d anticipated. From the look in her eyes, she remembered very well the agreement he’d made with her.  

 

“Find out what, you old hag?!” Black Star asked, Tsubaki’s weapon form still firmly held in his hands.

 

The witch laughed in humor. “It’s not always so fruitful getting what you want… And today, you’re going to pay with your life!” This was a statement meant for Spirit, indeed. Thankfully no one else had noticed the pang in the weapon’s heart it’d given. His desperation had managed to find a way to remain hidden. This wasn’t the time to give in to confessions.

 

Everyone’s eyes naturally averted to Soul, given his unconscious state. “How is he?” Kidd asked sternly, but in concern. What was this witch talking about? A price paid in death? If only Soul were awake to answer his questions! The man obviously carried answers he needed.

 

The meister gazed at her weapon partner, knelt with him. He’d become too weak to fight, leaned against a tree as he fell nearly unconscious. _Strange_ , the battle was such a short one in comparison to others. Turning to look back, she shot Kidd a worried look. Was it something about what he played? Did he play too long? Was his black blood acting up again? If only she could connect with him one more time, she could have prodded his mind to find out!


	34. Starving For Knowledge

Ruby eyes opened for the first time in about two days. The light was blinding, making the waking boy squint a little. His surroundings were familiar at least. Yes, it was Dr. Stein’s dainty clinic, the same one he’d also spent days in when his chest had been slashed open. Only, nobody was present. Yawning, Soul propped himself up on his hands to sit upright, taking in the thoughts that flooded his head in question on whether they’d really overcome that little problem of that monster and it’s accomplicing witch.

 

The man could have sworn that as he lay on the ground after playing on his soul’s piano, he’d heard a few clashes. Possibly even the voice of another high respected witch. ‘ _No! You don’t understand! It was for our own good!_ ’ The pink haired one sounded like she’d screamed before all went completely black for the second time. Even then, he couldn’t really remember what’d happened. He’d grown too weak at that point, unable to focus on anything more. Oh, but there was one very memorable statement, or word to be exact. ‘ _Betrayed’_ she’d said…

 

For so long, the weapon had held in his anger and fury for Maka’s sake. The next time he’d see Spirit, though, it wouldn’t be so forgiving. Really, the only reason he’d delayed his intent to face the red head was to keep their focus on the battle before them. That was the last thing they needed out in the open during such crucial moment of defense, a disagreement between two of their most essential participants. The disturbance would have been more than distracting. And to think that the whole time he’d suffered from the spell-bound amnesia, he’d actually _looked up_ to the guy!

 

His thoughts were interrupted when Maka’s voice broke through the door. “Soul! You’re awake!!” she cried out happily. Soul couldn’t help but to chuckle to himself at her joy. Her hands were occupied with a bag filled with several snacks and two canned drinks. “O-oh! S-sorry!! I… I’d gotten hungry. I haven’t really eaten yet since you got here, so…”

 

 _Silly girl_ , Soul thought to himself. _You know better than to starve yourself_ , he’d wanted to say, but just seeing her angelic presence in that door way offered enough fascination to silence him. She really was more beautiful than she gave herself credit for. Her personality and caring heart only offered even more that anyone could fall in love with.

 

“Oh, come on, like you wouldn’t do the same?! Explain when you’d starved yourself an entire day just because I had special training, huh?!” she continued.

 

Soul gasped internally. Of course she’d be able to read him so easily! They had each other’s expressions nailed to a tee! “Oh, please, it would have been a waste of food without you there. I can’t cook for just one person.” Folding the white sheet down, the boy slid himself back to lean against the petite white backboard.

 

Maka pouted for a moment, stealing the chair beside him as her eyes stayed glued to him. “Then don’t get on to me about it!” They stared in a minute of silence until the grumble of a stomach could be heard quite well. “Oh! Umm… are you hungry, Soul? I can share some of this with you!” the girl said, insistently and rigidly shoving the bag of small snacks towards him with both her hands on the jagged paper opening.

 

“N-no… no thanks. You bought that for yourself. I’d prefer something hot right now anyway.”

 

“Then I can call for some food! You got _really_ weak, so I suppose something more fulfilling does make sense…”

 

That’s right... she was awake for the whole thing! Perhaps he’d need to find out how it all turned out before making his next decision. Grabbing her wrist gently before she could lean over to reach for a nearby phone, he turned his head to look into her eyes. Seconds felt like hours as he gazed into her very soul, wanting to enjoy every minute of it he could. Answers… that’s right, he needed _answers_ though. “Maka… what happened back there? Is everything okay now?”

 

Her gaze shifted upwards in thought as she recalled it all. Then she peered back forward to meet his attention once more. “Oh… yeah… well you see, it turned out that Rize, that pink haired witch, was that kishin’s master. Before she could turn around and attack us after we’de killed it, though, the head of the witch council showed up and captured her before she could do more. Rize was just… well, she was a rogue that’d gone beyond control.”

 

Maka paused, remembering what their battle did to her own team member. Still, she continued on as his red eyes silently asked to know more. Continuing, she said, “Stein believes that you feel out like that because your souls resembled very closely. Not just alike, but… apparently yours has a similarity that when you played… it’d inadvertently carried similar effects to you, as well. But you’re here now, and awake!”

 

Soul pondered in thought. So the peace between witches and Shibusen is still intact, after all… He’d just suffered from a loose uncompliant one, been the unlucky one to catch the bad end of her plans. As for the effects that playing the song he’d chosen had done to him, he’d actually been aware of. The weapon just refused to reveal it. He’d have preferred his friends safety over his own life, and it seemed like a necessary decision at the time, though it’d been tough to hide it from her for so long in their link.

 

“Soul…” Maka asked, her voice dropping to a more serious tone. It was her turn to ask questions now. Or rather, _a_ question, the one that’d plagued everyone else’s minds too.

 

Snapping his head back up to look at her again, Soul could see a great concern had washed over her previously joyful mood. What was she worried so much about? The world was still at peace, and he was safe and sound in Shibusen’s infirmary, after all. Unless perhaps she’d still felt bad he didn’t have hot food in front of him? (Which, by the way, she still hadn’t touched her snacks, but instead set them off to the side on the floor.)

 

“What did Rize mean back there, when she said somebody had betrayed you?” Her eyes pierced his brain for answers.

 

His mind stopped entirely at the question he knew would eventually come up. Surely, it was safe to tell her now, right? Her father was nowhere in sight.  “I…” he began, hesitant to continue. Was this right, revealing it right now? After all, her father had done something near unforgivable, regardless of what his motivations had been. After knowing such a thing, her distaste for her father would go the highest it’d ever been before. If he spoke now, it’d be from pure anger, sought to deliver to the man what he’d deserved for his thoughtless actions. In this very moment, he could _ruin_ Spirit’s life… destroy everything he’d worked for and all the relationships he’d built.

 

 _No, no_ … he couldn’t right now. This was his and Spirit’s battle, not Maka’s. There was too much going on in his head, and he might accidentally say something he didn’t mean, or something that wasn’t even true at all. Instead, Soul had to show he was the bigger man, more than he already been this whole time, and wait until he could approach Spirit himself first. _Spirit_ needed to be the first one to catch the anger that’d built up in his revelations of truth, else Soul would be no better than he. His tone grew just as serious. “I… really don’t feel like talking about that right now. Just know that everything is okay now.”

 

Needless to say, it pained Maka that Soul would hold such a secret from her. She gathered well enough that he’d wanted to leave that alone, though. Maybe he just wanted time to settle down from the previous events first, especially since he _just_ woke up? “But you’ll tell me eventually, when you’re ready to? Soul, you’re my partner, my best friend… We… we don’t keep secrets like this! I don’t want to hide anything!”

 

 _Partner_ … _best friend_ … maybe their potential love wasn’t meant to be as much as he thought… “Yeah… Don’t worry, I will.” Soul threw on a reassuring smile. It was hard pretending that everything was okay, that nothing disheartening had occurred to break his trust in someone he’d looked up to and respected deep down inside, even if he didn’t show it. There was no one else who could have been the same kind of role model to him as Spirit had been, and now even _that_ was gone.

 

“Okay…” Maka’s face still frowned in a disheartened disappointment. His meister mentally reverted behind a wall, unsure what to say to break the unusual break of their merry conversation.

 

Great… so now _he_ was letting her down too! They were at a standstill as she sat, unsure what else to talk about, and he sat up, gazing around the office while scratching his head. The last time they’d stayed so was when she felt guilty about the events that gave him the scar across his chest. This was no good! There had to be something he could think of to perk her mood back up. Anything that could make her feel of help and use to her weapon partner… (because that’s what gave her bliss)

 

“About that hot food, though... I supposed you could, uh…” Soul beat himself up. _Food, of all things, you idiot!_ But alas, he heard an excited gasp from her mouth. Amusing what food could do to someone, how much it could motivate people!

 

“Of course! Anything you want, Soul! Name it, and I’ll get it!” The meister perked up in her chair, having newfound energy to assist her weapon in any way he asked. If food was what he wanted, food was what he was going to get!

 

Soul chuckled under silent breath at the energetic reaction. Now this was his meister, driven and motivated! The amusement was too much to _not_ relish. He stuck out a hand in a proposal for an agreement. “All right, _BUT_ … you have to eat with me!”

 

Grasping the offered hand, she shook it one hard time, with a grin plastered on her face. “Deal! As long as it’s not raw fish…”


	35. Cuddles on the Couch

Maka sprinted down the hallway swiftly. Just as the blonde girl turned the last corner within Shibusen’s halls before reaching the infirmary, she’d bumped into a figure she didn’t expect to be there. “Ah!” she let out as she fell back, catching herself on the floor. Gasping, she greeted him. “Oh… Papa! Sorry, I didn’t see you there!”

 

The man turned around, realizing the collision with one of the two people he’d been worried about encountering. Not that it didn’t make him happy to see her, but the chances that Soul had let her in on his dirty deeds? _That_ was always half and half! By the smile on her face, though, it seemed the fate he’d ultimately meet one day hadn’t occurred yet. For this, he quickly switched the expression of his furrowed brows into excitement. His traditional smile spread from ear to ear when his eyes fell on his daughter.

 

“Oh Maka! No, no, _I’m_ sorry! So so sorry!! Silly me, I was in your way!”   Now that was smart, standing in the middle of the hallway like a dummy! The older Deathscythe got so lost in his thoughts, pondering whether he should attempt a visit with Soul or not, that he had to stop before making his presence known to the infirmary. Realizing he ought to be more of a gentleman, though, Spirit bent down, extending a hand to pull her up.

 

“Th-thanks!” she exclaimed merrily, accepting the offer and pulling herself up. Now she proceeded to dust off her black cloak.

 

Spirit wasn’t sure what to say, but he’d desperately desired to have one last happy conversation with her while he could. “So…” he began, without a plan of topic. Hesitating, he quickly masked it with the first thing that came to his mind. “Eh heh heh… SO I hear Soul’s going to come back home with you today!” No, that wasn’t what was supposed to come out! Anything that didn’t involve Soul would have been better! Things like that were… _reminders_.

 

“Mmm hmm!” Maka answered delightfully. She clasped her hands behind her back and danced up and down on her toes.

 

“So I suppose you’re going to see him right now then?” Why, of all things, was this conversation still about Soul?! This wasn’t the kind of happy he’d wanted, a one-sided glee he didn’t share about the weapon partner he’d accidentally cursed horrible things on. The father would have preferred to make his last good conversation about something other than the very thing he’d trying to avoid from thinking about. That was it, he had to change the conversation! “Oh, Maka! Do you think that perhaps we could share a lunch together today first??”

 

His daughter brought a finger up to her chin in thought. “Well…. I told Soul that I’d see him today…”

 

Spirit sighed in disappointment. Of course this encounter would end in disappointment… It would have felt better to just walk away now than hear the rest of her answer! What she replied with wasn’t what he’d expected, though.

 

“Well….” Maka began, sounding somewhat hesitant. Oh, that horrible pause! Spirit sucked in his breath, waiting for the rest of Maka’s eventual decline. “Oooo _kay_ , I _guess_ we could… but just this one time! I don’t like keeping him waiting when he’s stuck here like this.” The only reason she’d felt okay taking this moment with him was that for one, she’d actually shown up earlier than she originally intended. Secondly, she couldn’t deny that he’d become a little more laid back lately, and well… how long had it been since their last descent daughter-father bonding time anyway? Besides, she’d visited Soul earlier today, so thirty minutes wouldn’t hurt.

 

Spirit could have jumped like a fan girl meeting the world’s hottest celebrity! It took all the control he had to stop himself from sending a fawning tackling hug her way that would knock her down a second time. Barely mustering his cool, he smiled genuinely, sticking his hands into his pockets so she couldn’t see him fiddling his fingers. “It’s my treat! Anything you want!!”

 

“Chinese??”

 

Spirit raised an eye brow, wondering where the motivation for Asian food came from. Since when did Maka volunteer for Chinese food? Her real motivation, though had been that she could bring left overs to Soul. This way she wouldn’t have felt so bad about being later than intended. Despite her father’s confusion on the choice, though he DID say anything she wanted… giving a quick nod, he smiled. Perhaps this little run-in would turn out better than he thought.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Now having been given official permission to come home, Soul and Maka had finished a rather light and dainty evening meal, considering the rather filling one they had earlier. For some unannounced reason, Soul had found it in himself that he didn’t want to leave Maka’s presence. For this, Maka had judged it to be affection coming back to him after all the chaos they’d been through, and perhaps the stress they’d been through. All considering, what if they were needed again? But that was unlikely after a full scout of the area was completed.

 

Every now and then, she’d catch him gazing at her a little longer than average throughout the evening. As they cooked, cleaned, and now as they sat in silence on the couch, unsure what else to do for the night. Returning to a regular routine felt odd. Thoughts seemed to plague their minds. The girl didn’t even have a book in her hand!

 

Normally, in the midst of a gaze of such kind, Soul would turn quickly to hide the blush that covered his cheeks or get up to start another task as a fruitless way to play it off. Only, this time Soul’s eyes remained locked on her, unwilling to let go of the sight of her.

 

“Hey…” Soul began.

 

Those gorgeous red eyes... Nobody’s in the world were like his! Maka perked up, hoping Soul had finally decided to open up. “Hmmm?” she asked casually, playing off the anxious curiosity.    

 

“Thanks…”

 

Maka wasn’t sure what to make of this.   Thanks for what?? She’d just been doing what a meister dedicated to her weapon would do. She’d just been doing exactly what _he_ would do. Then he continued before she could ask.

 

“Ah, I mean… well for covering for me today. That was really cool of you.” Ah yes… about earlier that day as  Maka had been willing enough to let her partner play dumb, pretending that particular piece of information was still forgotten.   She’d allowed him to leave it a mystery that she would learn first before all. This was their silent agreement. It was difficult to respect such a request without expressing more persistence, but what if it’d been her instead?

 

“Yeah…” Maka answered, with a pleasant smile on her face. Still, why did he have to hide this forsaken truth from her? They’d always had such a mutual trust. When he said nothing more in their quiet moment, she proceeded to stand up. “I’m going to read, Soul…” Before she could rise completely off the cushion, though, his hand wrapped around her arm.

 

There was that longing look again, the kind she couldn’t resist, the kind that meant that despite their speechless moment, she was the only one he wanted there. “If you don’t mind, could you stay here just a little longer?”

 

Her lips curled up again in a more confident smile. Soul may have been silent, but it seemed she was still the one he trusted most, something he didn’t have to say in words for her to know. The action alone spoke loud enough. It relieved her to know this as she let him pull her back down. This time, though, she found her body landing closer to his as he scooted so he was right next to her. He pulled her legs up onto the cushions, propping up to intertwine his with them, and leaned against her slender frame, sighing in contentment.

 

“Sorry I’ve been so secretive with you about this, Maka… I just…”

 

“Soul, it’s okay,” she answered, rubbing his hand that rested on top of hers as he held her tight.

 

“I thought I could keep the problem to myself, put it away so it wouldn’t bother anyone else and ignore it. But I can’t… I’ve made up my mind.” There was a hint of sadness in his tone upon that last message as his eyes turned away briefly to eye the floor. Now he looked back up at her, though.

 

Maka’s heart sat still for a moment as she awaited his next words to come. There was a bolt of confidence in his gaze. His fingers found way between hers now, and he gave her hand a tight, confirming squeeze, not letting loose as he continued. Whatever choice he’d made, he was set on it! “Maka, I promise I’ll let you know really soon. I can’t hide it from you, not anymore.” The meister’s eyes lit up. _This_ was the Soul she knew… the caring, honest and faithful man she’d been so lucky to partner with, fight witches and kishins with, bond souls with, _fall in love with_... He was the only one she’d entrust her entire being with. “But not now. Tonight I just want to enjoy being home with you.”

 

This was fine enough with her. At least she had his promise, and those he _always_ fulfilled. “Of course, Soul. I’ll stay with you here for as long as you want.”

 

They both smiled at each other, still cuddled close. That urge though, why did it have to come back now? They were so close to each other, Soul could have merely leaned in to kiss her tempting lips. Her happiness to simply be there with him… it left his heart with the warmest love he’d ever known, a love greater than what his own family even had to offer.

 

Oh but … They were leaned in already! It’d startled Soul to suddenly realize he could feel her breath grazing his, too. How’d they get to this point?! Less than a second ago, he’d been dwelling on maintaining self-control and now… His heart beat ten times faster than it should have and his nerves shook wildly. Yeah, they’d kissed when he had to wake her up from that violent trance, but that… that was no _real_ kiss! It was forced for reason beyond love, one-sided, and with no passion that could be called memorable in any positive way! This beautiful lady deserved one more genuine than that!

 

Before their lips could actually meet, though, he’d whispered, “ _Just let me sleep here like this with you. For just this one night_ …” This single potential kiss would have meant the world to him but alas… he knew good and well that letting it happen, well… was something he couldn’t afford to allow right now.

 

Maka gasped lightly, realizing what had almost happened and pulled her face back shyly, a bashful smile falling on face. “O-okay.” Neither of them was really sure what to say, so they leaned back toward the arm rest, Soul’s arms wrapped around her soft, milky white form.

 

They’d already been dressed in their usual night wear, Soul in a comfortable pair of decent boxers and a t-shirt with a picture of band on it, and Maka in a light-weight tank top and some soft cotton shorts high enough to reveal enough leg for pleasure. They trusted each other, though, trusted each other enough that they need not worry about judging their sleep wear, trusting enough to know that neither one of them would purposely take advantage of the other.

 

Soul nuzzled his head into the crook of her neck comfortably, finding it in himself to relax and close his eyes. Maka grabbed a blanket that’d been lying on the floor next to them (which she’d originally grabbed because _she_ was cold) and pulled it over them before settling down and closing her eyes as well. “Goodnight, Soul…”

 

“Goodnight, Maka…” Soul tiredly mumbled back before falling asleep.

 

**NOTE: Don’t worry, you SoMa fans…you’ll get your moment of passion eventually! I just… there’s something else yet to come, and this simply _wasn’t_ the right moment for it!**


	36. The Truth Shall Set You Free

“Hold on, Maka, stay here for a moment, will you?” Soul asked as he stood up from the table, grasping a phone in his pocket tightly. They’d been out late with a mission, and being the time that it was, neither really wanted to cook. Still, they’d worked up an appetite worthy of satisfying before settling down for the night. This in mind, it’d been easily agreed that they could take a late trip to buy some food.

 

Maka curiously looked up at her weapon partner, wondering where he was going off to. “O-okay… but remember, they’re getting ready to close in a few!”

 

Soul turned to give his meister a lazy gaze. “Mm… I know.” Instead of waiting for a reply, he walked off, diverting his path towards the restrooms. Just before reaching them, though, he’d stopped by a window close by and looked across the street. Red eyes lay upon a red-headed man sitting on a bench outside.

 

Yes, Soul knew his routine. He’d hang around Shibusen, train a little on his single-handed weapon skills before the sun fell, then later in the evening, Spirit would spend time with ladies and get drunk at Chupra Capras. Soul was no idiot to the use of this schedule to advert from potentially dealing with the duo.   And there he was now, just like he’d expected him to be, leaning against the metal bench right by the brightly-lit entrance.

 

Spirit would potentially be there for the next hour to settle down from the high alcohol content he’d consumed. It’d been perfectly timed for when Soul and Maka were getting ready to leave the dainty small diner that sat across from it. At first, Maka had questioned why he’d chosen this place, knowing Chupra Capra’s resided directly across the street. But Soul had insisted. That, and it was one of the most convenient places that were still open.

 

Pulling his phone out, Soul had become hesitant to dial the number, pausing to ponder over the decision he’d made. Letting out a reluctant sigh, he resolved he _had_ to do it. Who in their right mind just lets someone get by with something like this, like what Spirit had done, and just continue living as if none of it happened?? They were no longer in grave danger, and chances are he might not get another prime opportunity like this.

 

Moments later Soul returned to the table. They’d been given their ticket for the delicious meal and as their waitress came back by to pick it up, the weapon had left a relatively more generous tip than usual. Maka had been quite surprised, but upon Soul’s insistence, she’d ultimately been quelled to accept it. Several pleads of thanks later by the young lady who’d served them, they found themselves walking out the door as a small bell rang behind them to wish them a well night.

 

Instantly, a cold stare met a panicked one across the road. The silence between them could have easily spoken in place for the loss of words they’d had for each other in days. But, alas, Maka had broken the awkward moment. “W-what irony. Papa’s here, too… We should _really_ leave before he comes over here! I don’t want strange women following him over here!!” It was just awkward _being_ _here_ … where he could be seen _flirting_ with the nearly topless women! Her own father, fawning over meaningless gestures inspired by the incentive for money!

 

Maka had proceeded to split off quickly from the restaurant, expecting Soul to follow, but before she could step far away from the bar’s view, Soul’s hand had caught a hold of her wrist. “Soul! What are you doing?? Hurry, before he _sees_ us!”

 

“There’s something I have to do.” Grasping her hand now, Soul didn’t let go as he strode across the street. She had no time to question him as they reached the curb. Now he stopped before they could approach her father. Before Spirit could greet them, Soul felt his heart stand still. What he was about to do would tear his heart apart. For this, he had to get something out he’d been holding in for so long. Turning Maka to face him just inches apart, he grabbed her shoulders and pulled her in close. His hands rose to her face to cup her cheeks as he gently pulled her in to close the gap. Instantly, his lips met hers in soft indescribable passion.

 

At first, Maka wanted to reject this sudden collision, aware of where they were and who was in their presence. Her heart beat twice as fast, and yet at the same time, froze. What had struck Soul to so boldly kiss her _now_ of all times, and _here_ of all places?? Still, her heart won over the battle with her head and she returned the affection with arms wrapped around him in an embrace.

 

In this very moment, time stood still and nothing else mattered as their eyes closed to shut out everything else in the world. Her father would simply have to accept it. His fingers ran through her hair that he’d insisted she wore down now. The exchange of their touch sent waves of shock between them that could have kept them embraced together forever.

 

Until Soul paused, and held her back out to take a longing look at her. She could say nothing more as he gazed upon her, his eyes burning the image of his meister before him into his memory forever. She’d grown into such a beautiful young lady, sophisticated and smart, things he could never be… Perhaps this was what had attracted him so. Her determination had always been disguised in her stubbornness and there wasn’t a single thing in their lives together that he’d ever regretted.

 

As they’d been lip-locking, Spirit could do nothing more than but to stare in shock. In his head, he’d held in a silent cry to himself as he realized that the girl he’d raised was grown now. His little girl had chosen to make her own decisions and pursue her own life. But was this how Soul was going to pay him back? By flaunting it in his face? It was pure mental torture as he stood still, unable to turn away as much as he’d wanted to. He may have tried to stop this before, but he couldn’t now.

 

“I…” Soul started, unsure of what to say next. His gaze didn’t leave her as he mustered the words he needed to say. “I’m sorry, Maka. But I had to, at least one time while I had the chance.”

 

The girl softened her gaze in both comfort and confusion. “What are you talking about Soul? We have our entire lives. It doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks.” _This_ was what she’d waited so long for… the freedom to express exactly how she felt about him, the freedom to return to him what he’d waited for as well. Sure, they’d made crude jokes now and then throughout the years that could easily be mistaken as tried and true insults. Tiny tits, chicken legs, hair the color of an old man, even a few references to Soul’s demonic looks. But now none of it mattered.

 

Soul shook his head, though. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes. The red hue didn’t shine as bright as it usually did as he turned his head to look up at her father. He hadn’t even a single hint of blush across his cheeks. “Maka, I made a promise to you, and I think it’s time to fulfill it.”

 

She stood before him, anxious to see Soul finally open up completely. There were yet just a few things that he still disclosed from even her to this day. What she’d hear, though, wouldn’t turn out as pleasing or satisfying as she’d expected.

 

Soul stuck his hand in his jacket pocket and pulled out a familiar object. The clear pendant lay flat in his hand as he grabbed hers and gave it to her, the gold chain dangling down.   “You wanted answers, Maka? Well your father can tell you everything.”

 

The jeweled necklace! How long ago had it been since she’d last seen it? The trimmings and shape were just like she’d recalled, as well as the chain it rested on. Except… her eyes opened wide in surprise. Her tone grew hesitant, afraid of the next answer she’d get, but she _had_ to ask. Nothing else would satisfy her need to know. “Wait, wasn’t this… _red_?” Only now it wasn’t. It steadily remained the clear colorless shade it last ended in with no memories left, real or fake, for it to hold in place.

 

Soul nodded, shifting his gaze toward Spirit. If only looks could kill, Spirit would have been dead on that very spot as once admiring eyes turned into spite-filled ones. “Yes. _Was_. Maka, it was no witch that begged for my memories to get spelled away. It was _him_.”


	37. Bitter-Sweet Departure

“Maka, it was no witch that begged for my memories to get spelled away. It was _him_.”

 

Soul’s words rang something Spirit had regretted, something that shattered the peace that the drinks he’d consumed given him from the very fears that haunted him. His world fell apart as they stood in front of Chupra Capra’s. He could see the pieces falling apart before his eyes. The moment of passion between his daughter and her weapon partner, the jewel… and the now-open _truth_ …

 

The only way this situation could have been worse was if it’d happened in front of Lord Death himself. Who knows what price he’d have to pay then? Instead, it’d only happened in front of the one person that mattered most to him, his daughter. He’d began to wish that he’d run off before Soul had gained the chance to confront him in her presence, but alas, he was just slightly too drunk for even _that_. His heart dropped into his stomach as his daughter turned to look at him in shock.

 

“ _Papa_ …? It was really… _you_?”

 

Spirit was unsure what to say. His fallen heart consumed him, finding no excuse. He reached forward with an arm, as if to grasp her, but he knew better than to approach her.   “Maka, I…” No words could muster as he watched her world fall apart, too. The trust he’d gained, the moments of their happiness together in years, the hugs she’d actually been willing to give, they probably meant _nothing_ to his little girl now.

 

Before he could find a reasonable response, a taxi drove up by the street, and Soul raised an arm to catch the driver’s attention. As it pulled over to the side, he turned to look at Maka with another look of regret. Gently, he gave her one last small kiss as he held her face one more time, the kind that barely touched, the kind that came from pure love and nothing else. The kind that said ‘ _Good Bye_ ’…

 

“I’m sorry, Maka, but I can’t stay here right now. I’m taking a break and going back home again,” he said as he continued to hold her face close to his. His closed eyes were afraid to open and look at who he was leaving behind. His usual cool demeanor had turned into a serious one, the one that he typically wore when they were facing an opponent that could actually threaten their lives. This choice was one he had really made, not some spell or curse of black blood.

 

The meister grabbed his arms tightly, wanting to shake him into another sense. “What… why? Soul, you don’t have to leave! We can still work together, regardless of who did what!” she said, gesturing an arm out as if to display the entire world to him.

 

“Yes, we can… when it’s _necessary._ No matter what, though, I’ll always be _your_ weapon partner, Maka, and yours only… However, I can’t live near a man that’s willing to take my _life_ away like that… Now, I…” The wavering hesitation in his voice spoke more emotion than she’d ever seen him display in the public. “…I have a concert I promised to do…”

 

Now was the chance to intervene, to fight for his presence, to say what she’d always wanted to say. “Soul! I love you! I need you here, by my side!”

 

Soul could only sigh as he looked at her in admiration, grabbing both her hands. “I love you too, Maka, so _very very much_. But you’re strong enough on your own. Don’t stop believing that.” The weapon let go of one of her hands, dragging his own into his jacket pocket to pull out the keys to his motorcycle. Putting them into the palm he’d held on to, he closed her fingers over them firmly and looked back into her eyes, not letting her give them back. “Take care of her for me, will you?” This, too, was a painful separation, but she needed it more than he did.

 

Maka stood, frozen by what she was hearing. Was he really choosing to leave? Was he really choosing to go off by himself and serve a purpose other than DWMA? No words could come to her mouth as she stayed still in shock.

 

Soul let go, uncovering her clasped hands around the keys. Now he turned and made way to the cab that’d awaited him, the one he’d called just before left out that restaurant door. As the distance grew between them, Maka felt her heart break even more. Why was Soul giving up?! They’d spent years together, developed a partnership, no, a _relationship_ that she’d never have with anyone else. They carried a faith in each other that no other weapon-meister team exemplified.

 

Before Soul stepped into the cab’s back seat, he turned to look at her one last time. “I have a concert to play. You’ll know where I’ll be.”

 

Maka's eyes swelled up with the tears she’d held back as Soul stepped into the car without another word, the door lingering open in a battle to opt out. “SOUL!!" she shouted, leaping towards it to take advantage of the last chance she’d have to sway Soul’s mind out of his departure. The door had closed and it'd left off before she could reach it, though. He’d gone through with his decision. She could have sworn she'd seen his hand against the window, though, possibly even a glimpse of watering, red eyes.

 

Scolding herself, the girl wondered why she’d stood so frozen the entire time, why she hadn’t run after him before he could shut the door. What an idiot she’d been to not step into his way! Now that he wasn’t in front of her anymore, she could think of a million ways to stop that car from driving off with the love of her life. Flatten its tires… take Soul’s wallet… trip the weapon on his way… or even knock him out with her infamous Maka-Chop.  

 

Clammy hands clung tightly onto the keys he’d given her as she turned to face her father once more, so tight she could have cut herself if her skin weren’t as tough as it was.

 

Maka’s brows furrowed in both confusion and anger. Her voice dropped down to a tone that Spirit recognized. How much it reminded him of when her mother had scolded him! It was silent, but deadly enough to put fear into him. “Papa? How…. _Why_ …”

 

“I… M-Maka, I didn’t know it would come to that! I can explain!! That witch, she _used_ me and… and I was drunk! I swear I only wanted to…” Spirit pleaded. He only wanted to do what, he wondered? Stop their love? No, he couldn’t just outright say that. It was a hollow selfish desire that’d driven him to that irresponsible deal. When he couldn’t come up with an acceptable excuse (not that one even existed anyway), Maka spoke up for him.

 

“You only wanted _WHAT_?? You took away the _ONE_ person I’ve _ever_ loved and trusted like that, all because _YOU_ couldn’t keep the person _YOU_ loved!? I’m never going to find _anyone_ else like him, _NEVER_! It’s… IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!!” the young meister screamed. Tears flooded her eyes as she sent a hand flying towards his cheek with a slap that could echo through the streets.

 

Spirit was left silent, unable to do anything but stare at his only child, the child he’d let down. The words hurt more than he could possibly express. It gave him a gut-wrenching regret that reminded him of mistakes he’d made before. He attempted to open his mouth to speak, but nothing viable could come out, nothing that could possibly make any difference in the impact his mistake had made. He’d screwed up and there was nothing he could do to fix it.

 

Maka wiped the black sleeve of her cloak across her face, trying the tears of anger and despair that’d already fallen and grasped the motorcycle keys tightly again. Running to the vehicle, she threw herself on top of it and roared the engine as loud as she could in an attempt to alleviate some of the wrath that’d built up in the discovery and abandonment it’d caused.

 

“MAKA! WAIT!!” her red-headed father shouted as his daughter let out one more sob that could barely be heard over the engine. He stumbled as quickly as he could to where the bike stood up with her in the driver’s seat. But it was too late. Without a single hesitation or glance back at him, she’d sped off, leaving a trail of dust behind her.


	38. When the Stars Align

Soul tossed and turned under the sheets. Why had he been so anxious? Yes, the concert was to show tomorrow! Sure, it’d been tough work the last few weeks, drilling over and over with his parents. They’d insisted he’d become rusty, that his style had become limited in his life-long purpose to play for battle. But the pianist picked it up so well he didn’t need to be so worried now…

 

Finally rolling over on the fancy bed covered in its pristine white sheets and velvet-soft covers, Soul turned to glance at the clock. “Two A.M. already???” Reluctantly, the musician remembered how early he had to be up. If he didn’t get up on his own, a maid would be sent just for the task. Pesky house-sitters… they wouldn’t even let him leave a simple glass on a table without a coaster! The man much preferred the more laid-back lifestyle back at the apartment with Maka!

 

Over the last few weeks, life just… well, it wasn’t the same. Every little sound would wake him up, and he’d rise to merely discover that the kishin he’d sworn it to be was but a dream. He’d even transform an arm into his famous black and red scythe blade, perhaps accidentally slashing a sheet or two as it rose (oops…). And then perhaps get yelled at later because accountable resources were now ruined. But then his parents would gently let off, reminding themselves that this was a transitional period in their younger son’s life. Surely, he’d eventually learn not to stand in defense so quickly. After all, that’s what they had guards for right?

 

With a heavy sigh, Soul cursed to himself. “Forget this shit…” Getting out of bed, he slipped on a decent pair of cotton pants and slippers. Casually slipping out of the bedroom and shutting the door slow enough so it wouldn’t creak, Soul made his way through the luxurious halls until he reached a door to an outside area. As he exited the air conditioned hall and strode into the open night air, the weapon took in a deep breath of relief. How many times had he spent camping outside with Maka when they were stuck outside of civilization during their missions?

 

Quite the contrary of the tents on soft green grounds, this balcony was made of riches. The poles that held the half-circled railing almost looked of marble. Curiously maroon cloths hung over each side, held down by small stone gargoyles. The thick material decorated the ends where the rail met wall to break the clean white shade that could nearly glow. At the bottom of each said cloth was the family crest embroidered in fine gold thread. ‘ _Really’_ , Soul thought… ‘ _They waste their money on such futile things. Who cares what our crest looks like?_ ’

 

Tired of wasting time gawking at meaningless objects, he stepped forward towards the edge that stuck out the farthest. Leaning down, he set his elbows down and rested his chin against his forehands. Red eyes turned up to the star-filled sky. In his mind, he mapped them out to portray the amazing battles he’d overcome. But it wasn’t just _him_ that’d done it. It was Maka, too. Now the stars aligned to create the round face and jade eyes he’d left behind.

 

Soul stared up at the picture in the sky, his heart heavy with the love he could have had. Minutes passed as nothing or nobody else important enough was left to interrupt the thought. Not able to withstand his heart sinking any lower than it had now, he stood up from his perked position and shook it off. No… he had a concert to play tomorrow (or rather, today), and he needed to be focused, rested and ready!

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Their… well, no, _her_ dainty apartment had begun to feel quite lonely. Typically, the girl would be content to just sit and read a book as she lay crooked into the couch. But no, this was a different isolation. She didn’t really want to be alone. Maka slowly began to abandon her books during portions of the day just to go see somebody, _anybody_ … Although it wouldn’t be someone she could prop her feet on at any given time.

 

Black Star was about the closest thing to resembling her partner’s presence as she could reach. Where Black Star went, so did Tsubaki. The only problem was the assassin’s very existence in the same room translated into more yelling about being a god than she could stand. The hyper-active blue haired meister carried an energy that couldn’t stay channeled for more than two minutes at a time. At least Soul kept his game system turned down, or wore headphones!

 

Then there were the outings with Liz and Patty. The sisters would drag Maka into clubs she’d never heard of before. The wild clothes they would suggest over her more modest style gave the blonde and uneasy feeling, knowing that eyes of strangers were constantly roaming up and down her small frame. But again, she did it for company.

 

And lastly were her visitations at Kidd’s place. These weren’t as bad, believe it or not, compulsive disorder or not. As long as she didn’t _touch_ anything, she was okay, or rather _he_ was. Kidd was calm, collected, and sincere, with a generally nice outlook. And this was enjoyable _enough_. Occasionally, in the silence of reading as he meticulously fixed one of the many symmetrical ornate objects, Maka would shoot out a friendly insult, expecting to hear something interesting in return. But Kidd just wouldn’t give in to the game. Instead, she’d find herself accidentally setting the Shinigami off in another fit. Even as one sided as the pot-shots had become, she still did it for the company.

 

And now she found herself waking up in the middle of the night with that same lonely feeling she’d merely been covering up and avoiding. It was the silence in the apartment that’d stirred her. It was not having a warm body lying beside her as she slept. It was the lack of the night-mare induced screams that used to come from the bedroom next door.

 

Aware that she wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while, the girl thought that perhaps a breath of fresh air would cleanse her bothered soul. Sifting bare feet against the carpet floor, she brought herself to the window in her room. It jut out just barely enough to not be flat, with a window high enough she could stick her body out, a design technique that made these apartments slightly different from others.

 

Raising the window pane with a slight squeak, Maka had found more relief in the sound than bother (although technically it meant it needed a drop of oil). Propping herself up with her palms down against the rectangular wooden frame, she turned her head up to face the open sky. Its dark shade of midnight made the bright stars stand out, like magical dust spread across the atmosphere. What a beautiful sight it’d been! The fresh air, the night sky above…

 

Memories swept across her mind, reminding her of late nights out with Soul, the engine of his bike roaring over every word they might try to speak to each other. But alas, words were never needed. Eventually they would give up their unheard speech and communicate with the expressions in their faces. Those days were golden!

 

But then a familiar feeling came over her soul. One she hadn’t felt in the last two weeks. It was a connection, an existence of _Soul_ … Had… No, no, had they really just resonated?? Not that it had conveyed any _particular_ message. It was simply the kind that left a lingering sensation of his presence. And yet, at the same time, this was impossible… they were too many miles away, further apart than they’d ever been their entire DWMA career together! Or perhaps this was just her heart’s wish, to _feel_ him again?

 

Whichever one it was, she shut the window and walked away, shutting the feeling off abruptly. It was too late. He’d actually made the decision on his own, and the meister wasn’t sure whether to feel more sad or upset with him. She’d heard the words come straight from his mouth. _‘… When it’s necessary._ ’ But then she had to wonder, what if it had been her? It’d been a confusing emotional roller coaster that she’d intentionally avoided thinking about, afraid she’d accidentally take the wrong emotion out on the wrong person. Except that _one_ actually _did_ deserve it.

 

Wiping her eyes quickly with her forearm, Maka forced her mind onto other matters before she could burst out in tears for the thousandth time. The topic was too depressing and left her feeling lonelier every minute she dwelled on it. Shaking her head violently in denial, the girl knew she needed the sleep. Besides, who actually wanted to partner with a meister that dragged herself about every day in depression? Tomorrow, she’d have to decide on another side-line weapon in Soul’s absence, and she’d be damned if she let her own father claim that spot!


	39. Punishment Over Pride

The man tossed and turned in his sleep. He tried his best to wake himself up, but the nightmare had been too much to allow such thing. It’d been a memory the red head lived over and over since the day his actions had been revealed. Spirit could only wonder what would have happened if he’d never given Soul’s memories back to him.

 

He’d never even meant for it to get that far in the beginning, though. That witch, that wicked witch, she’d tricked him! All he’d wished for was to see the love between his daughter and her weapon partner disappear a bit so he wouldn’t feel like he was losing her more than he already had. But alas, that’d been a wish he should have never made. How did Kami’s parents feel when he took her away from them, too? It must have been the same, but here he was, living his own life, something he should have let Maka do, too.

 

The moment relived itself in his slumber, though, reminding him of the price he’d have to pay for these selfish desires turned awry. Their faces, their words, their _emotions_ …. The dream always went the same way, as if his conciencness had been destined to play it over and over.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

The group of young meisters and weapons sat merrily together in the open air outside the school, laughing as they spat out joke after joke. Maka had been entirely too down the last few days, speechless even. It was difficult to get a word out of her, much less any sort of giggle. Still, the girl would manage a smile their way. It wasn’t too effective right now, but one thing was for sure, Maka had a great group of friends. They didn’t have to try to cheer her up, but they were anyway.

 

Spirit kept watching them from a distance, wondering exactly what he should do. Leave? Stay? Admit his guilt in front of everyone to take ownership of the events? The last was a consideration he’d very nearly considered, until he could picture what could possibly arrive from that. No, no, no, the man already self-shamed himself around women as it was!

 

But still, he couldn’t stand seeing his only child in such a down state. What would a good father have done in this case? Perhaps a surprise gift of something he knew she’d wanted. But alas, that had been tried, even with an apology note attached, and it hadn’t worked. Or perhaps… was it because he didn’t face her himself and say it for himself? Spirit, leaned against a tree as his eyes stayed glued to the famous group, gasped. Maybe that’s where his apology had gone wrong… he hadn’t tried to face her with it in person.

 

Now determined he was going to set things right, he realized he’d have to get her away from Liz, Patty, and remaining friends. This one time would be the few opportunities he’d have! This entire time, she’d intentionally left any place that contained his presence, and now, with people in front of her, she’d have no choice but to be a little kinder!

 

Striding to the group sat on circled benches, he addressed them, or rather her, with a slight hesitation in his voice. “M-Maka! I… well, can I see you really q-quick? Alone??” Everyone stopped their cheerful conversation, offering him an odd look in return, except for Maka, whose face had remained straight, almost emotionless as she spoke.

 

“I’m busy.”

 

Now sticking a single hand into a pocket so he could fiddle his fingers about without notice, he broke the awkward silence. “It won’t take long, I promise!” the father answered, now putting his hands back together in the air, as if praying for her allowance. Since when had he been reduced to begging so quickly?!

 

“Why should I?” she replied with a voice so flat he’d began to worry what was going to come out her mouth next. Spirit wanted to plead for this small chance, but she broke his awkwardly long concentration on devising a decent enough answer. The blonde stood up, arms firmly down her side and standing straight as she could as she strode between her buddies to face him, allowing just a few feet to remain between them.

 

Suddenly all the rage she’d harbored came out as she lost control of the words that came from her mouth. “ _Why should I_? Why should I give you even a _small_ moment when you took my happiness away from me!? Why should I give you a chance when you didn’t give me or Soul a chance to decide for _ourselves_ what we wanted?! All of Soul’s memories, taken for _what_?! For your own selfish greed?? That little deal of yours with that mischievious witch… it ruined it _ALL_. You wanted him out of my life, well you _got it_! And now you can stay out of my life too!! NOW GO AWAY!!” At this point, tears streamed like rivers down her face as the girl pushed her father to the ground with unforgiving strength.

 

His tall frame stumbled down as he landed on the circular hard concrete the benches framed in the midst of the soft green ground. He looked up at her as she gave him one last look, taking in his fallen soul and scraped hands. Without hesitation, she ran off, not wanting to catch one more glimpse of the man that had let her down.

 

“M-Maka!” Spirit stood up and began to bolt after her, but before he could get more than a few feet away, a pale hand clasped around his wrist. That lack of tan… he knew too well who’s it was. Turning slowly to face the Death God, he could feel the ice-cold serious stare coming from those golden eyes. The man had tried to speak, but all that could come out was a sound of hesitation.

 

“A deal with a witch? _Please, enlighten me_ …” That silent tone of anger… that quiet, calm tone of appall and disbelief in what Kidd had just heard…

 

Everyone else’s faces were just as frozen, mouths dropped in shock as anything they were holding previously had fallen out of their hands without being bothered to be picked back up. Down went Black Star’s game, Liz’s purse as a few items of makeup fell out, and Patty’s canned drink. At this very moment, you could hear a _pin_ drop on the pavement as they all fell silent, not bothering to pick any of it up. Spirits heart paused in fear.

 

“You mean… Soul forgot all about us, because of _you_??” Black Star asked more serious than he’d ever been before. The tone of disbelief and possibly revenge could have made anybody mistaken that there was an enemy before them again.

 

“Soul…” Tsubaki replied. “Is he going to come back, at least?” Her soft voice was as kind and caring as it usually was, but carried a drop of concern as her eyes were locked onto the red headed deathscythe.

 

When Spirit had no answer for her question, knowing how much he’d now let everyone else down as well. These were Soul’s closest friends, and now they knew about his shameful act. In truth, this was what he deserved, and yet there was nothing that could have prepared him for it or made it any less bad.

 

Finally Kidd let go of Spirits wrist, leaving a red ring where his hold had been firm, while not ceasing the eye contact he’d kept this entire time with the man that’d betrayed them. “ _I’ll be needing to see you in my office. I’ll be waiting…_ ” With this final statement, Kidd walked off slowly. It was obvious the damage that’d been done by the sound of his last words, filled with disappointment and anger at the same time, and yet so collected as though he’d already decided his thoughts through.

 

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

Now awake and brought back to reality, the imagery having finally passed for one more night, he made his way to the bathroom in his small home. His face was somewhat paler than usual, perhaps from the little appetite he’d carried in the worry that buried itself in his heart. Even the routine trips at Chupra Capra’s didn’t settle the concern, unless of course, he’d let himself become stupidly drunk. But look at what that lead to last time…

 

As a result, he’d been assigned to house arrest, if ‘ _arrest’_ was what you could call it… After a great deal of small trials, it’d been deemed that he had no intention of making such faulty choices again by the regret that’d been proven true. However, his presence on the DWMA campus wasn’t openly welcomed for an unset amount of time, save for emergencies or occasional intents that might pay off his previous actions. Even then, that small bit of time he’d been allotted wasn’t even enough to visit. As soon as his task was finished, DWMA was off-limits.

 

His full-time return would be determined by only the reaper himself. Until then, the sight of brought too much anger. Too much anger lead to making choices purely on emotion. In the meantime, when Spirit _wasn’t_ home, he was expected to do community service. In a sense, it would take several good deeds to cover his one bad one.

 

As Spirit mentally plotted out what today’s good deed would be and stared at the reflection of the desperate man staring back at him, the image of his daughter popped up in his head again. Maka, his _darling, darling_ daughter… if only he could go _see_ her! Oh, but… yes! Today was the day she’d be selecting another weapon partner to use in leisure convenience until Soul came back, _IF_ he came back.

 

How could anybody else possibly compare to what they’d been? The level of resonation they’d maintained easily was the highest that’d ever been seen in DWMA’s history! It killed witches and powerful kishins in very little effort… even saved the world! None of these low level punks (whom, by the way, he didn’t trust _AT ALL_ ) could possibly be as worthy of her partnership as Soul was. Imagine the mishaps in communication and agreement they’d have during the most crucial times!

 

In the weapon’s drowning thoughts, a revelation occurred though. He’d made a mistake, yes. Everything that happened had been due to a single agreement he’d made with someone he didn’t know at all. But perhaps, there _was_ one way he could make up even more for what he did. Of course, not that anyone could forgive him entirely… but _just maybe_ this was something he could do to ensure his daughter still had a happy life in his absence… that was the least she deserved!


	40. Last Chance

Maka sighed in boredom. She’d lost count of how many had come up auditioning to gain her acceptance for partnership. None of the candidates had struck the girl in any particular desirable way. The selection contained a combination of people who wanted easy level ups, boys with obvious crushes, or students who’d picked up interest to abandon their current meister because of her accomplishments.

 

Honestly, she’d grown tired of interacting with seemingly useless weapons in comparison to her last one. For one thing, she wouldn’t even be allowed to turn them into a deathscythe unless given special permission. Secondly, feeling like she was being used as an easy upgrade for someone had scorned her desire to talk to any more, but here was one of the nerdiest looking boys she’d ever seen. His glasses were thick, round and black with a piece of tape wrapped around one of the connecting corners. His pants were pulled almost to his belly button and the bottoms barely scraped past his ankles so that every time he sat, they would rise up his calf.

 

Even his speech pattern gave way to his underdog status. “Uh, uh, um, so I’ve been studying special tactics used in historical wars that we can use in evading enemies. Oh, and I-I’m bat’leth, by the way, for some baffling reason. Haha, maybe it’s because I know Klingon! I could teach, you too! And we could talk like that while we’re in battle, so that way nobody else would know what we’re saying! I mean, how cool would that be?!”

 

Maka sighed heavily at the mention of the word “cool”. Just something else to pointlessly remind her of Soul. However, this was about the best she was going to do if she wasn’t going to feel _used_. All the ideal ones were already taken. She decided that perhaps she should just accept this one while she could. Heck, if anything, at least he would understand her need for reading since he was a nerd, too.

 

Maka had nearly decided to just do it and root for this desperate underdog when a hand clasped around her arm.

 

“Don’t do it.”

 

The meister turned to see who’d so firmly kept a grip on her. Who was this now, insisting on changing her mind to choose them instead? But alas, it wasn’t who she’d expected to see. In fact, it was who she least wanted to see. “What are you doing here… go away!” She tried to yank herself out of her father’s hold, but instead he turned her back toward her so he held both her arms now, and tighter than she’d expected. She wasn’t going to escape this so easily!

 

“You can’t partner with him!” Spirit insisted, looking her in the eyes with great desperation. He knew she wasn’t going to be happy with this. He may have disappointed her, but he also knew her very well, and this _wasn’t_ the path she needed go. Her life would become as boring as a rock in the sand.

 

“Says who?! You heard Lord Death… I have to pick someone today, and you’re interfering! I’m going to choose who I want to choose, and I’m not letting you stop me this time!” Maka argued in defense, occasionally struggling to wiggle out of his hold. The attempt had failed, though.

 

“Says…” Spirit thought for a moment, not sure what to say. No, no, he couldn’t use himself as a reference. She’d _never_ listen to him then! “It doesn’t matter who said so! Listen, there’s something I _need_ to do before you make your choice!” Maka narrowed her eyes suspiciously at him in exchange. “I was wrong, Maka, I admit that! I admit it to myself a thousand times a day, and I’m paying for it now. I will probably pay for it for the rest of my life! But right now, I need to show you something really _important_!”

 

“Oh, like something _else_ you did, too? I don’t feel like being let down again, Papa! I don’t think I could handle the pain of it! Please, just leave me be while I’m happy enough!”

 

Happy _enough_ huh? No, his daughter wasn’t happy. Her claims to finding peace again were all false, as proven by the lack of spunk she’d once exhibited before. “No! No! I didn’t… I mean, I _swear_ , I haven’t… Just… just come with me and you’ll understand, okay?! Please??? I’ll let you pick whoever you want to afterwards!”

 

Maka stared at Spirit with sarcastic eyes for a good minute. The sorrow in his eyes were genuine as well as the desire to do something good again. “ _Fine_ , just this _one_ time… but if this is something else that’s going to let me down like before, I… I’m sorry, but _I’m never calling you my father again_ …”

 

Even for someone who was so guilty of so much, these words hurt more than could be expressed. This was the weapon’s last opportunity to prove how much he cared. He jumped back merrily, though, letting go of arms and now taking a hold of her wrist. Without another word, he pulled her through the halls until he reached the Death Room where the Shinigami’s throne and his mirrors of communication remained.

 

His touch was like poison right now. With every finger of his that lay on her skin, Maka could feel a little bit of the emotional strength she’d gained dying. The longer he held on, the quicker it began to slip before she’d eventually break out again. But why had he brought her here? It was just another place she’d seen a million times. “Papa… it’s just the Death Room.”

 

“Over here!” Spirit stated, anxiously taking a hold of her wrist again and pulling her towards the mirror she’d used to travel. Placing a hand on the frame, he’d pulled up exactly he wanted. A vision of a luxurious lobby appeared before them in the reflective glass. It was quite spacious, really, with multiple doors lined around in a semi-circle, just barely curved enough to tell it wasn’t straight. Each of the thick mahogany doors honed intricate, etched in curvy patterns at the corners, connected by straight lines that framed them. Calligraphic letters labeled each entry way, Ranging from A to E.   Hanging above was a fancy chandelier with thousands of bead-sized pieces that appeared to be carved from diamond.

 

“W-what is that place?” Surely, this wasn’t a typical scene for him to visit, unless it was actually some fancy strip club with overly-invested rooms used for personal service… Perhaps he simply wanted her to witness his declaration to stop giving into his admiration for these over-paid women. Or at least this was her first assumption among many.

 

Spirit twisted around to look at his daughter once more with a smile that could be interpreted anywhere from being anxious to being excited. “You’ll see soon enough! Just trust me, okay?”

 

Maka could only scoff…. Trust him? She’ll see about _that_ later… Sighing as she watched him walk through into the foreign scene, Maka proceeded to follow, watching as the surroundings changed into the luxurious lobby he’d linked to. She’d prepared herself for the regret she’d eventually feel for actually giving him this chance, a chance that he didn’t frankly deserve (something even _he’d_ agreed to).


	41. Crossed Fingers

Maka stood before the five doors. Whatever her father had planned for her, it was certainly a mystery. Were they perhaps purchased items in attempt to buy her love back? Now _THAT_ would never work… The girl had grown up too much to recognize real love over facade. Or was it perhaps a guessing game to find out which whore he’d been with was her real mom and that he’d reunite and live as a full family. Who was he trying to fool? She wasn’t five any more.

 

“Well, go on, take a peek…” Spirit encouraged on, nudging her forward with his palm on her back.

 

Maka grudgingly stepped forward, but wasn’t sure exactly which entrance he was talking about. “Which door?” she asked, her voice flat as they could be.

 

“Any one of them.” Something about his voice sounded genuine, like he’d actually done something out of care.

 

Stepping cautiously towards the center entrance labeled “C”, she put her hand on the elegant wooden piece before she stopped to listen to something that’d caught her attention in a familiar way. Was this… music coming from there? More so, it was a piano.

 

Barely pushing it open now so only a slit thick enough just for her vision to reveal what was behind it, her jade eyes were captured immediately and her attentive ears paying attention to every note. Soul… that’s right… his concert was today! How long she’d been wallowing in her loneliness, only to forget about this rather large event! The girl hadn’t even turned on a television, else news reports might have reminded her!

 

The song captivated her more than any other song he’d played. This was, indeed, the touch of his family’s practice. She couldn’t help but to wonder how long he had been working on it to break from the traditional gothic tune and turn it into something beautifully passionate. The sound reflected a style between grace and battle at the same time. He’d even memorized the song with great passion as his eyes didn’t even have to open to know what he was pressing.

 

When he did open his eyes to look, they were always on the stretch of black and ivory keys. This instrument had been the only escape Soul had from the high expectations his parents shoved on him, and yet at the same time, it was the very source from which they derived their demands from. Still, every emotion he’d felt poured into every note.

 

Maka simply stood there, holding the door barely open as it mesmerized her into a world of feelings she hadn’t experienced for years. The strong, yet gentle tune of Claire De Lune… Even the audience hadn’t known what to expect but to recognize its self-rendered style that redefined the very soft song into its own entity that couldn’t be replicated by anyone else than him.

 

As Soul’s fingers glided along to the very last note, holding the key out to the once soft again end that the crowd of listeners recognized, Maka couldn’t help but to watch his expression in particular. That ability to determine his silent notions kicked in automatically and she recognized the sigh of relief as he stood up from the stool and bowed. Even though he’d been strong enough to show himself in front of a massive audience like this, a part of him was still nervous about it all, anxious to simply get it over with. This was the Soul she knew, the one that didn’t play for people, save for his friends when they needed the common bond.

 

Maka had only noticed once Soul had stepped off the stage, though, what an impact his performance really had. Upon his exit off the platform, she finally noticed the tears that threatened to collect. What beauty the sound of his playing had! Still, when would her heart stop aching so, when the very sound of his playing had bloomed so well? “Why did you bring me here?” the girl asked, not bothering to turn around, but instead still gazing at the closed curtain where her weapon once played.

 

“Because, Maka, none of those other _ignorant_ boys that have talked to you are deserving enough. Sure, I might have looked down on Soul at first, but after all these years, I’ve realized one thing today that I’d never considered. There’s always been only _one_ real partner for you all along, and it’s _him_ …” Spirit pointed towards the now closed curtains far ahead of them.

 

“No, Papa,” she replied, with a skeptical laugh, turning to face him again. “You heard him that day. He _quit_!”

 

Spirit raised an eye brow and tilted his head as he answered. “Did he _really_ , though? And what if this were one of those emergencies he’d promised to fight for?”

 

“There are no enemies to fight right now,” his daughter said, her voice reflecting in a flat tone with disbelief. There were no kishins present. There were no witches. Didn’t Spirit hear Soul that day, or had he been too busy sulking?! “If only you brought me back here to remind me of the heart break I’ve finally managed to forget, then I’m done here. I’m going home.”

 

This was too much right now. Soul’s beautiful song. Her father’s betrayal. Her partner’s resign. If anything at least she would hear that gorgeous tune in her sleep. She’d proceeded to walk off, but before she could pass her father’s tall figure, he grabbed her shoulders to stop her in her path back to the mirror they’d transported in.

 

Spirit looked into her green eyes, intent to find a glimmer of hope, or anything he could say to instill some into his daughter. What came out of his mouth wasn’t what he’d expected, though. The man had a resolve he simply had to finish if he had any hope of redeeming his name at all! “If you don’t go find him, I _will_ …”

 

Maka simply stared back at him, wide eyed at the suggestion. Her father?? Intentionally uniting her with a boy?? This jealous, love seeking, sex-addicted red head that’d carried absolute disdain towards any male even looking at her… No, no, even _Soul_ wouldn’t have that, not after what he’d been through with him! If anything, Soul would have rather sought a fight with him, forced him out of the building, out of town.

 

The very image of Soul thrusting his blade up in threat in the middle of a back stage or crowd of other musicians in spite of seeing the one who’d stolen his entire life’s worth of memories from him, it scared Maka to no end how society would see him. These rich pompous people, they would look at him in fright, alienate him, and tell secrets behind his back then hush up as they’d give him odd looks.

 

In desire to protect Soul against becoming a social outcast once again, Maka perked up and nodded. She’d simply pretend she went to find him, leaving her father here to await the ‘bad news.’ Or she could even lie about it, and simply tell him Soul meant what he’d said and express the heart break she’d been feeling in her chest so long. Spirit would be happy enough for that bit of effort and leave it alone. Once they were home, she could continue her happy (lonely) life and he’d never bother her again.  

 

Soul was home for a reason, and she didn’t want to bother that. “I’ll… I’ll go look for him then! Th-thanks…” the meister said, crossing her fingers behind her back as a secret apologetic notion for her father in breaking even her own word. Why was Maka doing this, she wondered? These false words she’d just given him, now she was no better than _he_ was! She ran off down a corridor in hopes that she’d find a viable excuse of a place to hide in so her aching heart would go unseen. As nervous as Soul had been on that stage, he wasn’t likely anywhere to be found, either.


	42. Intimate Bathroom Encounters

The long corridors were as glamorous as the entranceway itself had been. It circled widely a great deal, something that spoke for the size of the central ballroom itself if one hadn’t already seen inside already. So many of the spaces were open for obvious socializing, though luckily enough they’d been empty for the fact that there was still a musical concert going on. As she continued further around, Maka noticed a small lobby. The floor of it was lined separately in perfectly laid white and grey marble tiles and between a water fountain on one of its sides were two doors. Restrooms!  

 

Slipping quickly into one of them, the girl noticed that even the bathrooms were decorated more than the typical middle-class house. The door had opened up first into a seating lobby. Cherry-wood and leather lined couches lined the walls on both sides, and between them was another door. ‘ _Probably the door to the actual stalls_ ’ Maka thought to herself. ‘ _Oh well, this will do fine_.’

 

Sighing reluctantly, she plopped down in one of the most un-lady-like position she’d ever sat in, slumped deep into the crease and legs just slightly apart as her arms hang down her sides. Not like anyone was going to waltz in right now. They were preoccupied with a fancy concert and chances were that their social status probably looked down gravely on exiting in the middle of such things. She began to feel sorry for the poor little suckers that had been holding themselves for an hour now. A little bit of time on this couch (which was rather comfortable!), and her father would be satisfied with the answer she’d provide him: that she hadn’t convinced Soul to come back.

 

Closing her eyes in thought, the meister began to sum up the words she’d use and practice a few disgruntle and broken expressions that Spirit would believe. “He… he doesn’t want to fight by my side anymore, Papa… This… this is his home now! He said so himself!” Ahhh yes, that’s the tone, the ‘nearly-in-tears’ wavering in a desperate sounding voice! In further practice, she started spouting another line to herself as emotional as she could make it as she threw palms up to cover her eyes and dropped her lips into the saddest frown she could muster. “S-Soul! He’s fallen in love with someone else—“ The line was cut off immediately by someone she’d least expected in a lady’s rest room.

 

“Since you seem to know me better than I do, maybe you could tell me when the wedding ceremony is, then?”

 

Maka jerked up from her slumped position and dropped her hands from her face immediately. Since when did Soul start using female restrooms?! There he was, having just exited the stall portion that probably also looked like a miniature apartment. How handsome he’d dressed, too, his black suit as ironed as it could be and wrinkle free. Hanging loosely from the collar of his red shirt (having been purposely pulled for the sake of relaxation) was a silver and red tie, its intricate knot obviously not constructed by his own hands.

 

“S-Soul! I… I wasn’t expecting you here!” Quickly standing up like a proper lady again, making sure to pat her skirt back down from its hiked height due to the careless position she’d sat in before, Maka stared back up at him in shock. The one person she’d purposely tried to avoid had shown up anyway.

 

Soul smirked, having taken glory in finding flaws in his partner’s assumptions. A part of him couldn’t help but to admire those creamy soft legs she’d incidentally exposed. Any higher and you could have seen her… No, no no! This wasn’t the time for those thoughts!! He cooled himself down quickly. “I don’t see how, seeing as how you just walked into a _men’s_ restroom.”

 

His comment quickly brought a rather deep shade of red upon Maka’s cheeks. _The men’s restroom_?! Had she been that blinded?! In quite a bout of embarrassment, the girl quickly began to create a plethora of excuses. “I mean, I was in rush! And… the pictures in this place are confusing! Come to think of it, I’m pretty tired too! Running around looking for you like this!” she said, finishing her statement off with a nervous laugh.

 

It was difficult to look back into his beautiful red eyes, knowing she’d probably face a second wave of rejection that’d probably hurt even worse. A part of her wanted to be angry at him for leaving her like he did, for abandoning their team and their apartment for the sake of security. Yet at the same time she couldn’t validly hold it against him, lest she call herself a hypocrite. She, too, had given up in her time alone with no intention of seeking to face him like she found herself doing now. It’d all been for security… security of his comfort, and security of her emotions.

 

“I’ve really missed you, Maka.”

 

The simple statement threw her off guard. This wasn’t at all the horrible feeling she’d expected to leave with. “Soul, I…” What do you say to such a charming young man who carried nothing but adoration for you? His eyes reflected the love she’d sought for years for him to show. It was all happening again. Fluttering hearts, tingling stomachs. Now that she’d taken a full long view of the man she’d fallen for over and over again, recalling how she’d been living so long without him, the meister couldn’t hold it in anymore.  

 

She flocked towards him. The girl wrapped her hands around his lean torso and held on tightly, threatening to never let go again. Now she raised a hand to gently pull his head down towards hers until their lips met again, this time boldly engaged by the girl herself. Maka had halfway expected him to react in shock like she had the time at Chupra Capra’s, but to her surprise, he returned to the notion, meeting her halfway.

 

It seemed that both had the same idea as the other, with eyes closed so they saw nothing but the care they held for each other. The electricity that flowed between them founded a new energy that brought their hands wandering about each other’s backs and shoulders in passion. They left no space between themselves as they pulled each other in as close as they could, embracing even just there mere existence together in the couch-lined lounge with no one else there to witness them.

 

When their passion began to climax into something more…. _indecent for the public_ … she found her hand nearing something she’d never considered touching before. The girl turned quickly to face away from him, letting go instantly to break the moment of passion before she made any braver moves. “I… I’m sorry! I just…”

 

Now both their faces were red as beets! It seemed that Soul, too, had nearly ventured to alternative places. Just before their split, a hand quickly released off the small of her back and almost headed to cup a certain set of cheeks that _weren’t_ on Maka’s face… but alas, now they stood, their backs facing each other as both of them tried to settle their nerves from this unexpected make-out session. The heat emitting from the both of them could have warmed the entire lobby alone. Beads of nervous sweat formed on their foreheads as they both turned to shyly look at each other again. Their eyes wandered to anything but each other trying to find a wall, a couch, table, any object they could fixate their view on.  

 

“I-it’s okay…” Soul answered, scratching his head with a single finger. Why hadn’t she Maka-chopped him yet?? Perhaps she just didn’t have a book on hand. Before the idea could derive, he changed the subject entirely. “To be honest, I’d hoped to see you in the audience, and when I didn’t… I… I thought I’d never see you again.”

 

“I _was_ there, Soul.” Make turned her head upward to meet his now confused gaze. Straightening her palm, she gently tapped his head with the side of her hand in an imaginary chop and a soft smile on her face. He couldn’t help but to smile back just as softly, and duck his head down slightly as if to play along like the strike had hit harder than its small touch.

 

Soul thought back to when he scanned the audience for familiar blonde pigtails just before he sat to play. The disappointment it’d given him left him with a nagging feeling that perhaps Maka had given up, too. It’d tossed in a slight of guilt that it could have even been his fault for leaving in the first place, that perhaps his self-made decision had done more hurt than anything else. And that’s when he’d become as nervous as he was to play in front of so many pompous judgmental people.   But there was no turning back. He played anyway, and then promptly left for solitude to settle himself down before his next debut. However, thus his assumptions, here they were anyway.

 

Maka continued, daring to take a hold of one of his hands again now, even after their recent… _passionate break out_. “At first I wasn’t going to go, had even forgotten about today since I haven’t kept up with anything, but Papa, he…”

 

The mere mention of _Spirit’s_ name… it shot another fresh arrow through Soul’s heart. Just when Soul thought he’d managed to become numb to its previous pain, the very words brought back it back. Soul reminded himself that he needed to be the bigger man though. Not letting the betrayal faze him, he continued to listen to his meister as she explained her story of their unintentional reunion.

 

Maka continued, “Papa, he’d insisted I’d come, dragged me over here and reminded me that you were here. I was at the doorway, Soul, just when you’d began playing…” Placing her other hand over his palm she’d grasped before, she took a moment to look into his ruby orbs as she spoke her next words with the most admiration she could possibly muster. “And it was _beautiful_ …” Flawless, she’d even call it, but saying something like that would fluster Soul to no end. The song was much more defined than anything else he’d played. Time at his parents’ mansion had definitely fine-tuned his skills and she wasn’t sure he could possibly get any better than he was now.

 

Soul’s cheeks turned a deep shade of red and he gazed down at the floor. “I… no, it definitely could have been better. I was so nervous out-“

 

“I know,” she interrupted. Yes, his body language and facial expressions were just as familiar to her now as they had been for years now. There was no denying that he’d struggled on that stage, despite his amazing skill. “Soul, tell me, are you _really_ happy out here? Is this what you _really_ want to do?”

 

Soul hesitated to answer, but everything he tried to spit out halted, unable to complete even a single sentence. Maka could see his attempt in coming up with something believable to say, but it just wasn’t happening. Truth be told, he’d just about completely decided to walk out on today’s performance. Having almost forgotten the idea entirely out of respect to his family’s request, but Maka’s presence reminded him. It reminded him of how bad he’d preferred to get into the action, defeating kishins, teaching young inspiring weapons and meisters how to achieve the path they’d accomplished.

 

His last performance had drained so much courage out of him, seeing the faces of thousands of strangers before him, listening to him, judging him, expecting more as each note passed. This was more pressure he’d experienced, even more than when the world had nearly fallen into Asura’s hands. At least back then, he was more confident and around people he trusted.

 

“Soul, come back with me. Come and do what you were _meant_ to do. Your songs are beautiful and inspiring, well worthy of this crowd’s experience, but… this just _isn’t_ you. Why else would _only you_ , of _all_ the Evans sitting here in this building, be the amazing scythe you are?”

 

Soul stared into her jade eyes now, soaking in every word from her mouth and every care-filled thought she had to offer. It was true. He wasn’t happy here. He was only doing it out of a sheer promise made well-known to the public. If such an elaborate guide hadn’t been printed up for everyone to follow, he’d have left _right now_.   Only, they did, so he still had a concert to finish.

 

Soul smiled in a more genuine growing happiness. It didn’t matter what her father thought anymore. It didn’t matter what _anybody_ thought any more. “Only if you do one thing for me.” Maka gazed at him in question, brows furrowed in confusion. Now the man stuck a hand in his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. Handing it to his meister, he said with a tone of expectation, “Find your seat and enjoy it.”

 

Taking the paper in her hand, she turned it so she could read it right. Its contents held a row and seat number, the theatre’s title, and the great name of “Evans” on it beside a rather prestigious image of a crest. An admission ticket! “This is… don’t tell me you’ve been holding it for…”

“Yes. I’ve held onto it for you. Now I don’t have long till my next showing, so you might want to be prompt about it!”

 

Her soft smiled widened into one of glee and pure joy. “Of course, Soul!” Making a fist and punching him lightly on his chest, she chided, “Go now! Make me proud of my partner, okay?”

 

Soul grinned almost mischievously, walking up closer to her and taking a hold of her cloak so their faces came close to each other again. Planting one more soft kiss on her, their lips barely touching enough to tease, he now let go and continued to the exit. “By the way, you might want to leave the men’s bathroom now. Intermission will be soon. Unless, of course, you’d _prefer_ to be caught…” With these last words, he left the cozy lobby, offering her one last mischievous wink before he disappeared into the hall.


End file.
